


Cloudy, with a chance of sun

by Beatonen



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Modern AU, Monochrome, Scientists Weiss and Blake, because why not, engineer Ruby and Yang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2018-10-11 14:48:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 55,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10467534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beatonen/pseuds/Beatonen
Summary: Head of the scientific wing, working in the Reaserch and Development department of Schnee Dust Company, Weiss Schnee tries to do some good in the world, in her own way.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The title was littleraly the weather outside. I have no inspiration to name things originally.
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you'll like it!

She sighed, sitting back in her chair as she rubbed her eyes tiredly. She’d been staring at those papers for hours, now, scribbling down notes and equations. She glanced at the digital clock beside her, the red lines telling her it was well past two A.M., and she grunted. She had only wanted to make a quick check on her papers, but got sucked into it, like every time.

She pushed back her chair, standing, and walked to the window, glancing down at the lights of the city in front of her. It was a nice change from the snowy mountains she was used to, back at home, when she wasn’t in charge of the scientific wing of Schnee Dust Company here in Vale. But she liked it. Liked to see that even at night, the city was busy, always someone walking on the sidewalks, always cars honking somewhere in the distance, always some lights still open in the buildings she could see.

She sighed again, toying with her necklace. It was a silver chain, with the Schnee crest as a small pendant, the chain large enough so she could let it fall under the collar of her shirts. The only reason she still wore it was because it was a gift from her sister, many years ago. And since she took her job as head of the scientific wing, the Research and Development department, sometimes, she could feel the chain heavy on her neck, the silver biting in her skin, the crest burning on her chest.

Her father was known for his high expectation, imposing results in near impossible delays, the consequences for his disappointments sometimes meant entire teams got fired. As such, almost every employee feared the man. So, when she took the bar when her father decided to step down, at least for this part of the company, the employees didn’t know if they had to be relieved because they didn’t answer to that man anymore, or still be afraid all the time because _his_ daughter took the job.

Turns out, Weiss Schnee was a really decent human being, unlike her father. She leaded her crew with an iron fist, but was understanding and far more patient than her father. She also was open-minded, charismatic, and had a really brilliant mind. Most of the scientists loved to work with her, her knowledge of Dust seemed infinite, and all in all, the employees liked their new boss.

She also changed some things, trying to erase her father’s legacy by hiring faunus. Brilliant minds come in all shapes and colors, she’d said at a press conference, following the news. Her father was outraged, but since she legally was the head of R&D, she was her own boss, something she reminded him as she tried to hide her smile when she saw his features change. But he still yelled at her for half an hour in his office, back in Atlas, where he asked, no, _ordered_ her to come as soon as he saw the news.

It had been a year and a half, now, since she had took the job. Her days were busy, always, and she never had time to take a day off, not that she wanted to. She liked her job.

She grunted when she glanced at the clock, telling her it was past three, now. She changed into her sleepwear, pacing around her apartment –well, it was a penthouse, but saying it was an apartment made it sound less… intimidating- as her mind was restless, finally stepping in the kitchen, filling a tall glass of water before she gulped it down in one swing, standing in front of the sink. She knew she would be tired, tomorrow. Having less than three hours of sleep was a double edged sword; she felt like she was full of energy, wanting to do many things at the same time, but she knew she was going to get easily distracted, and that a headache was going to crack her skull by the end of the day.

She slipped under the covers, rolling in her far-too-big bed, resisting the urge to make a mental list of the things she had to do in the morning. But as she rolled and shifted for half an hour, growing more and more annoyed at the fact she couldn’t sleep even if she felt exhausted, she sighed in defeat, letting her mind make those damn lists it liked so much, finally falling asleep in the middle of her supply list.

 

**** 

 

She already felt a headache coming, and it wasn’t even past two in the afternoon.  She blinked a few times, trying to adjust her eye in the light of the microscope. They were trying to fuse two different kind of Dust, but so far, every attempt failed, just like she was looking at right now. The red particle sneaked closer to the yellow one, then they bumped, and Weiss held her breath… before the red one seemed to suck the yellow one, making it bigger, but still it stayed red.

She straightened herself, sighing, massaging her lower back. It was her forty-seventh attempt, this week, all failing. No matter how she changed the amount of chemical in both, the red Dust always seemed to be stronger, eating away every other kind of Dust beside it. Maybe that’s why there’s so many red Dust in the world, she thought. It’s like a parasite.

She then told herself that it wasn’t that bad, the raw power of the red Dust giving enough energy to give electricity to entire cities worldwide, she thought as she washed the lamella, pulling off her gloves after she put it to dry. If only they could find a way to fuse different kind of Dust, they could maybe use less to create the same amount of energy, or use it for other purposes. She glanced over her shoulder, looking at the other scientists bending over microscopes, mixing chemicals, exchanging theories.

Shoving her hands in her lab coat’s pocket, she stepped out in the hallways, a thick file under her arm. As she passed in front of the glassed area of the testing ground, she heard something explode, making her jump, one hand covering her chest over her heart as she looked up, her eyes locking with shocked silver ones on the other side of the glass.

“Ruby Rose” she hissed through gritted teeth, as she stomped to the glass door, seeing the other woman shrink as she got close. “What are you doing? Can’t you be a little more careful?”

The woman smiled a tiny smile, her face darkened by the sooth, her dark, red tipped hair standing in icy spikes on her head as her eyes started glinting.

“But it was awesome!”

She sighed deeply. Ruby was her youngest engineer, passing her time on the testing ground to test her ever growing ridiculous theories. The woman was a genius, graduating from Beacon University two years ahead, and Weiss couldn’t pass up this opportunity, so she hand-picked her. But the young woman sometimes seemed to have a hard time defining when she had to work and when she could play around.

“What were you even trying to do?” she let out after a grunt, quickly looking over her to make sure she wasn’t injured.

“I tried to mix powdered red and blue Dust in a lightbulb.”

“… Why?”

Ruby shot her a sidelong glance.

“Because I could?”

She stared at her for a few seconds, before closing her eyes as she muttered why she hired her under her breath. But as she turned on her heels to walk away, the younger woman grabbed her arm.

“No, seriously” she started, her smile fading a little, and Weiss returned her attention to her. “I was trying to see if I could mix powdered Dust together in small compartment, and if I could adjust the air inside so it wouldn’t explode until I cracked it open, when the air disturbed the neutral environment I put it in.”

Weiss took a moment, letting the information sink in as Ruby was rubbing her face with her lab coat, trying to clean herself.

“Okay, but why?” she asked again.

Ruby smirked slightly.

“I’m trying to see if we could make some Dust filled bullets that would explode or freeze upon impact, giving it some more kick.”

Weiss widened her eyes, almost dropping her file as she glanced quickly around, grabbing Ruby’s arm firmly, almost painfully.

“We are not making weapons, Ruby. Stop testing that. Don’t tell anyone if it worked. Do you understand?”

The younger woman frowned slightly, taken aback.

“But why? It would give us an edge over the Grim-”

“Ruby” Weiss interrupted her, her fingers digging in her skin through her sleeve. “Don’t weaponized it. I’m serious.” She talked in hushed tone, now, making sure nobody could hear it but us. “If my father knows R&D is turning Dust into weapons, he would take advantage of that. It can only end in a disaster, because he won’t use it on Grim only. Do you understand?”

She didn’t talk about her father often, but Ruby, being around her age and working together many times, had become one of the few good friends she had. She knew Ruby would understand if she gave her the complete reasoning. And as the younger woman nodded slightly, resting a hand over hers, she knew she did.

“Alright, Weiss. I’ll stop. It didn’t work, anyway; it was too unstable and exploded in my face. It was a good hunch to start with only a few grams of each.” She laughed sheepishly.

Weiss smiled gratefully, patting her arm a few times before pulling away.

“I’m glad it didn’t melt your face.”

Ruby snorted, smiling as she turned around, gathering her things. Before Weiss could walk out the door, a tall, blonde woman knocked twice, her eyebrows raised as she pushed the glass door open, looking at the dark faced woman, then glanced at Weiss.

“Is there a situation, here?”

“Your sister’s making a mess, as usual” Weiss sighed, rolling her eyes, but smiled at the offended gasp she heard behind her.

Yang chuckled quietly, but still stepped inside, a worried frown on her face as she grasped her sister’s face between her hands, looking for injuries as the younger woman rolled her eyes, letting her sister look over every inches of her.

“Why didn’t you put your glasses on, Ruby? Those are made to protect you when things explode.” The tall blonde grumbled, gently lecturing her sister.

Weiss let the sisters together, hearing a really irritated Ruby grunt just before she closed the door, a smile pulling the corner of her lips. Yang was very protective of her little sister, if not too much, but she kind of understand her; Ruby could be very careless sometimes.

She had hired Yang at the same time she hired Ruby, the blonde being a brilliant engineer too, but it was the only condition Ruby had upon hiring her. She made Weiss promise to never tell the blonde, for it would boost her ego or something, she told her. But she knew that even if Yang was protective of Ruby, the young woman was protective of her older sister, too. And, well, they made a really competent team, one of the best she had. She was only glad both of them liked their job so much.

She glanced at her wristwatch, pulling her hand from her slightly-too-long sleeve with irritation. She had to adjust them to her size, she thought, adding it mentally in her list of things to do outside the job. She grimaced, holding her file in her hand as she noticed she was, again, making a list. She walked down the hallway, in direction of her office, the stark white walls making the neon lights almost too bright for her eyes, feeling the headache she had felt coming nestling in her temples. She rubbed her index finger between her eyebrows, trying to sooth the pain if even a little, as she passed in front of the door of another lab. She stopped, stepping back and raised on her tip toes to glance in the room.

She was used to work in the first facility because it was bigger, and she could watch over more of the team at once, but the second facility… The team was smaller, of course, but they looked like they worked well together. The six scientists were talking together, one of them pointing at the green board where an equation was written in white chalk. Another stood, talking animatedly, took the chalk and added a string of numbers at the end of it, but another one raised his hand, objecting, and the addition was erased. As she glanced over the team, she noticed one of the scientists standing in the back, looking thoughtfully at the board, arms crossed and finger tapping on the chin. White eyebrows raised in surprise. That’s right, she remembered. There was only one other woman, beside herself, in the two teams of scientists. Another thing of her father’s legacy, she remembered with a grimace. And that woman, she thought, as the woman inside turned her head towards the door, her eyes locking with Weiss’s, was also the only faunus employee of all the R&D department. She must have felt her stare. Her calm golden eyes stared at her for a few seconds, blinking once, before returning her attention to the board, resuming her tapping.

She knew the faunus was another employee she had hand-picked from Beacon, almost at the same time as Ruby and her sister. What was her name again, she tried to remember, leaving her post, walking down the hallway to her office. She closed the door behind her, dropping the file on the corner of her desk as she walked straight to one of the filling cabinet, pulling on the top drawer, a long series of files neatly ordered. She thumbed directly in the scientists section, pulling out the thinner file, and walked back to her desk, leaving the drawer open. She sat heavily with a sigh, opening the file in her lap, turning the pages until she found what she was looking for.

In front of her was the profile sheet of Blake Belladonna, hired eight months ago, golden eyes staring at her calmly on the employee photo added with the dossier. Going through the notes, she remembered why she had hired her: the faunus had a specialty on auras, having made a thesis on the possible relation between Dust and auras that Weiss had read twice before deciding to hire her.

She sat back in her chair, tapping her index finger on the page a few times. She realised now that she never talked to her. As she closed the file, standing again to put it back in its place, pushing the drawer close as she took her forgotten file on her desk, she decided she’d work in the second facility, tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

The team seemed kind of startled to see her walk in the small facility, setting her file on the corner of the table on the far side of the room. She sat in a chair, crossing her arms and her leg as she nodded encouragingly to one of the scientist that stumbled over his words when he saw her enter the room. When she was asked, very politely, what she was doing here, she shrugged.

“I wanted to work with you, today.” She answered, glancing at the team, who looked back at her with matching surprised faces.

And her eyes locked again with the calm, neutral golden ones, a slight twitch on the faunus’s lips. But nobody objected. Well, they couldn’t really. She was their boss, and as such, she could work everywhere she wanted.

The day went by, finding the smaller team quickly relaxing even with her presence. They worked well together, and she found she enjoyed it. When one of them hesitated with something, they often asked the rest of the team, like she saw yesterday. She liked it, the team working together like they should, unlike the first, bigger team. She sometimes answered questions, helping them as much as she could with equations, and they were only all the more happy, working quicker.

As she bended over her microscope, she glanced in front of her. On the other side of the counter, Blake had shut one eye, trying to focus on what she was seeing in her own microscope. She noticed a slight twitch of her ear, atop her head; cat ears, Weiss noted. Again, the faunus must have felt her stare, because she glanced up, raising her eyebrows, and Weiss quickly looked down, clearing her throat quietly, frowning at the scope, and she thought she saw the faunus smirk slightly in the corner of her eye.

Blake didn’t talk often. But when she did, it was always pertinent of their work, useful critics and theories. The faunus was often trying to make them see in a different angle, suggesting a different approach they didn’t think about.

After a few days, -Weiss couldn’t believe she decided to work in the second facility, but the atmosphere was much more casual, and she could actually have a decent conversation with her coworkers. And, well, not being the only woman in a room full of men was helping make her at ease, too- she really liked working with her. She asked for her opinion often, because she knew she’d point out something she didn’t think about. And after a few weeks, they paired up, working together, just like many other scientists did. Blake soon figured that Weiss was a perfectionist, and never really minded if they finished after the others.

“I have to check on something” Weiss suddenly said one day, making dark eyebrows go up and golden eyes glance at her. “Come with me?”

Blake straightened her back, making a soft surprised noise, but still nodded, closing her file after she noted something down.

Then, they started towards the hallway, Weiss walking at a fast pace, but Blake being taller, she could follow her easily. And follow was the word; the faunus was walking slightly behind her, one step behind, one step to her right. It was kind of awkward when she was trying to talk to her, having to talk over her shoulder. She thought that maybe the faunus was just shy or something, so she walked slightly behind because it was less intimidating. Or something.

But every time they were going somewhere, Weiss soon realised that the faunus was walking behind of her own accord, following silently like a tall shadow, her dark hair swaying gently over her white lab coat. As the days went by, Weiss grew annoyed of that behavior, and when they were alone in the elevator, going two levels up to meet Ruby in her office, she decided to ask Blake.

“Have you ever been in the military?” she asked bluntly, tired of the quiet music playing.

Golden eyes glanced at her, eyebrows rising, as she was standing slightly behind Weiss, her hands folded in the small of her back.

“No, never. Why?”

Weiss sighed, glancing over her shoulder to eye the faunus from head to toe.

“It’s something my sister, who’s in the military, told me. When one walks with someone who is of higher rank, one must walk one step behind, one step to the left. But you are always on my right, so that’s why I was wondering.”

Blake hummed, sounding amused, one corner of her lips pulled slightly up.

“I always did that. Never knew it was a military thing.”

“I’m not of higher rank, Blake” Weiss countered, staring at the light indicating on which level they were.

That made the faunus furrow her eyebrows as she stared at the smaller woman.

“You’re my boss.” She let out, her tone as-a-matter-of-factly.

“I’m not…” she sighed, her shoulders slouching slightly, and for the first time, Blake thought, Weiss looked tired. “I’m not your boss. I’m your colleague. Alright?”

Golden eyes stared at her for a moment, and she nodded silently. Looking up again, she stared at her reflection on the metal doors, continuing.

“And I always walk to your right because you’re left-handed.”

She saw Weiss narrow her eyes slightly, a small frown forming on her face on the reflection.

“… Is there a correlation between that?” she asked, not sure if it was something evident.

The faunus laughed quietly, staying silent for a few second, before clearing her throat.

“I grew up outside the kingdoms” she said softly, still staring at her reflection. “I know how people can be. Then I went to college and university in a different kingdom, alone in a major dominated by men. I may be a woman, but I can defend myself, and I had too, many times.” She looked down for a moment, feeling Weiss’s stare on her. “I know how men can be. I know how racists can be. But I like to think that people are safe when I’m with them. You can call me paranoid if you want, but me walking to your right only means that I’m covering your weak side, while you cover mine.”

She stayed silent for a few seconds, starting to feel awkward. “It’s” she shifted slightly, swallowing, “my way of showing that I care about you.”

She clenched her teeth as she still felt Weiss’s stare bore into her face, the metal doors sliding open as a quiet ‘ding!’ was heard.

“Please, don’t think I’m weird.” She whispered when the smaller woman didn’t budge, the doors starting to close.

But Weiss swiftly reached for the door, blocking it as it slid open again, her eyes never leaving her.

“Thank you” she whispered back, before clearing her throat and stepping out promptly, Blake following her.

But after a few steps, Weiss stopped, so did Blake, and she glanced over her shoulder.

“What did I say?” she murmured, knowing well enough that she could hear her as she flexed her index finger a few times, then pointed beside her.

The faunus huffed, glancing down as she stepped forward to be beside the smaller woman, a small, genuine smile pulling her lips.

“Alright, ‘not-my-boss’.” She said, her tone playful, and when she glanced at her she saw her narrow her pale-blue eyes, but she noticed the small smile as they started walking again.

 

**** 

 

“You remember your ‘side project’?”

Ruby raised a single eyebrow, sitting on the edge of her desk.

“Yeah?” she hesitated.

“I was thinking” Weiss continued, setting her file down on the chair as she leaned her hands on it, “and I think you should maybe… resume it.”

Ruby stared at her for a few seconds, then glanced at Blake, standing silently near the door, her hands folded neatly behind her back.

“Okay, but didn’t you asked me… not to… you know” she trailed off, glancing again at the faunus, the taller woman’s face stoic.

“It’s alright, Ruby, I trust her.” She said, slightly rolling her eyes.

The younger woman frowned slightly, staring at the faunus for a moment, crossing her arms.

“Can I tell Yang?” she asked, looking back at Weiss.

“The less people knowing, the better” she answered, bowing slightly her head.

The younger woman nodded once, her eyebrows furrowing, serious.

“Okay, I’ll tell her to shut up. Now, why do you want me to resume?”

“It’s, um…” she straightened her back. “I’ve read your thesis” she said over her shoulder to Blake, and she saw her ears perked slightly. “I want to see if we can manage too…”

She sighed, rubbing her hand over her face grumbling under her breath, but Blake heard.

“It sounds dumber now that I think about it fully awake.”

The faunus snorted, and Weiss narrowed her eyes at her, Ruby making a face at Blake.

“I want to know if we can, you know… Make some kind of arm or leg, a limb filled with Dust that will react to one’s aura, so the control over it would be total and not partial like the cybernetics we have, stitched to the nerves.”

Both golden and silver eyes stared at her, shocked and surprised.

“Okay, but… Why do you want me to finish? It’s not really related, as far as I understand.” The engineer asked, shrugging slightly. 

“The limb will need energy to move, energy that auras alone can’t provide. You need muscles to move around; the Dust will be the muscles.”

Blake stepped forward, her brows knitted together.

“Weiss, it was only a thesis-”

“Why do you think it’s called ‘Research and Development’, Blake? To research and develop.” Weiss interrupted, looking up at the faunus.

They stared at each other for a second, and Weiss could see something pass in golden eyes. Something akin to excitement.

“We’ll try to mix Dusts, in small quantity, and compress it, not for it to explode but for it to create small and steady bursts of energy that could go through the entire limb, reacting to the user’s aura when they’ll need it.”

“You thought about that in the middle of the night, half awake and all?” Blake asked, the tiniest amused smile on her lips.

She shrugged, but looked over at Ruby, who was scratching absently her elbow.

“Can it be done?”

The younger woman pursed her lips, extending her hand in front of her as she shrugged slightly.

“Well, we can always try” she said with a smile.

 

**** 

 

Weiss decided it was a project that needed to be as quiet as possible, moved her things into another wing, one floor below. Less people used it, and the teams were too big to work in the labs here. But it was perfect for two scientists. And the testing grounds were just down the hall, with Ruby and Yang’s new office, and for the time being, Blake and Weiss shared the same large room as their office.

It would be a long process; they still weren’t able to mix red Dust to anything. But one day, they’ll find a way. She liked that, trying to find something new. She took it as a challenge, now, staring down in her microscope, daring the red spot not to gulp the other spot, but every time, it failed.

She grunted again, straightening her back as she massaged it for a moment. Her eyebrows furrowed, sighing as she felt a headache wrecking her head, and she was about to sit on her stool when a hand appeared beside hers on the counter, setting two pills and a tall glass of water for her. When she glanced up, Blake was walking around the counter, sighing quietly before bending down on her own microscope.

“How did you know?” she asked, somewhat not surprised, as she swallowed the pills, downing her glass in one long swing.

Golden eyes glanced at her briefly before returning her attention down.

“I noticed you always have that huge vein on your forehead, and a wrinkle between your eyebrows just before you massage your temples and fetch some pills. I connected the dots.”

Weiss huffed, leaning on the counter, looking at the faunus for a moment.

“You’re quite observant.” She noted, her voice quiet.

Blake glanced at her again, their eyes locking for a few seconds before it returned to her task again.

“That’s my job.”

The smaller woman huffed, resting her chin in her palm.

“I’m not a microscope” she countered playfully.

She heard the faunus snort, and she could see her cheeks move slightly; she was smiling. She glanced at her wristwatch, and grimaced. It was almost nine P.M., and the last thing she ate was a light salad for dinner. No wonder she had a headache. The windowless facility was messing with her internal clock, for sure. She sighed, letting her face fall in her hand, rubbing it with a quiet grunt until she felt a hand on her back.

“Are you alright?” the faunus asked, a wrinkle of worry between her eyebrows, her hand light over her back, and as soon as Weiss straightened, she pulled away.

“Yes, I’m just” she sighed again, shoving her hands in her coat’s pockets, “exhausted. And really hungry, now that I think about it” she grimaced, feeling a rumble in her stomach, hoping Blake couldn’t hear it.

At the twitch her ears made, she grimaced again, knowing the faunus had heard, but she acted as if she didn’t, and rested a hand on her shoulder gently.

“Let’s finish for tonight and we’ll grab something to eat. My treat.” She added with a light squeeze, before letting her hand fall and turning back to her microscope, noting something quickly in her file before closing it.

 

**** 

 

“Are you sure _that_ ’s what you wanted?” Blake asked, looking at her skeptically as Weiss raised her cheeseburger to her mouth.

“Are you kidding? Weiss would only eat that if she could” Ruby laughed, shaking her head gently.

They had crossed the sisters when they were going out, and decided to go together. They, too, had forgotten to eat.

Weiss bit down on her cheeseburger, closing her eyes as she let out a scandalous and borderline inappropriate moan, making Blake blush slightly, shocked, and Yang laugh.

“God, that’s so _good_ ” she almost whined between bites, devouring it without an ounce of grace.

“It’s only good because you’re starving” Ruby objected, biting down on a few fries she brought to her lips.

“If you want to taste actual _good_ cheeseburgers, you should swing by for dinner, for once” Yang let out, chewing one bite of her burger, looking down at it disdainfully for a second.

Ruby made a noise, putting a heavy hand on Weiss’s arm, swallowing quickly.

“Weiss. Yang makes the _best_ burgers. In fact, she’s the best cook I know” Ruby nodded, patting her arm a few times.

The blonde raised her eyes to the sky as Blake tried to hide her smile behind her glass.

“One day” Weiss promised, patting her hand in return.

She added it mentally to the list named ‘things I say I’ll do without knowing if I really will’. And she grunted internally.

_Another list_

 They finished their meals while talking and joking, Weiss relaxing slowly. Her headache had toned down with the food and water she took, and she was actually having a good time, and she promised herself, this time she really meant it, to try and go out more. Well, ‘out’ for her meant out of R&D or her apartment. The sisters were always funny, and she liked hanging with them out of the job. She glanced at Blake, seeing the faunus listen to what Ruby was saying with attention, smiling when Yang added something as her sister elbowed her, before resuming. She seemed to have a good time too, Weiss noticed, the hand around her glass not as tight as it was earlier, and the faunus’s shoulders weren’t as stiff, either.

Blake must have a kind of radar or something, she thought, as the faunus felt her stare once again and looked down at her. But she didn’t try and pretend, this time, and she smiled sweetly, seeing the twitch in one cat ear before Blake smiled, too.

It was nearly eleven in the evening when they had to leave, the cashier apologising without looking sorry when he said they were closing, and the group walked back to the parking lot, the short walk feeling good after being trapped inside all day. The sisters left first, Yang’s bike far away from the R&D building, and they waved goodbye as the yellow and black bike roared to life, Ruby holding Yang’s waist tightly, as they pulled out of the parking lot, quickly disappearing farther the road. Blake and Weiss fell in a pleasant silence, a welcome change from the non-stop blabbering of Ruby and Yang’s teasing. They stopped at Weiss’s car, a white BMW, as she fished her keys in her pocket, pressing a button and unlocking the doors, making the car honk twice.

“Nice ride” Blake commented, eying the car as Weiss snorted.

Pale-blue eyes glanced around, noting there was only her car in the lot.

“Where’s yours?” she asked, frowning slightly.

“Oh, I don’t have one” the faunus shrugged. “I live nearby. I’m going on foot.”

“Then let me take you” Weiss offered, opening the driver’s door.

“Oh, no, it’s not necess-”

Weiss looked back at her, eyebrows raised.

“I insist.”

The faunus sighed, then shrugged, walking around the car to open the passenger’s door.

 

**** 

 

“ _This_ is where you live?”

The clearly disgusted tone Weiss used made Blake twitch.

“Not everyone is rich enough to own a castle” the faunus snapped, her fists tightening on her lap.

Weiss grimaced, guilt washing over her face.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude” she murmured as she pulled the car to the side of the road. “It’s just… I thought the pay was good enough for the employees to live in… more decent places” she says as she glance again on the old building, the ramps of the stairs clearly rusted even in the dark, the balconies bending down in the middle, some bricks missing from the façade as it was darkened by mud, sun and time.

Blake relaxed again as she looked at Weiss, the smaller woman still staring at the building.

“It’s okay” she started, her voice soft and quiet as she glanced at the building, too. “I know it’s not the nicest building, but not everyone wants to rent an apartment to a faunus. I’ve been living here since I arrived in Vale, for college. Plus, the landlord is a really nice and kind old lady, and she makes the best cookies, so it’s not that bad.”

Then she winced slightly when Weiss looked back at her.

“I’m just really lazy and I don’t want to move” she confessed, earning a quiet laugh from Weiss.

Blake pulled on the handle, pushing the door open as she slipped out graciously, leaning on the car to look at Weiss.

“Thanks for tonight, and the ride. It was fun.”

“My pleasure,” Weiss bowed her head slightly, “although I should be the one thanking you. You paid me dinner.”

Blake snorted.

“See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow” Weiss repeated, and Blake closed the door.

Weiss watched the faunus as she walked around the car, then to the front door, driving away only when Blake was inside.

She didn’t really lived far, too, but she took the car because she was too lazy to walk in the morning, and too exhausted in the evening. As she was about to enter the parking lot, the garage door slowly opening, she looked up at the balcony, connecting to her bedroom. She never feared to walk around naked, knowing that nobody could see her, the penthouse sitting on top of a cliff, giving a wonderful view of the city below, and gorgeous sunsets between far away mountains.

She sighed as she parked her car inside, sitting back in her seat. She could understand Blake. She could move to a smaller apartment, she didn’t need all that space for her alone. But she was lazy and didn’t want to move.

That night, lying in her too-big bed, she stared at the ceiling again, knowing without looking that it was past three. She made a quick note somewhere in her mind to ask the faunus where she comes from, one day.

And she grunted loudly into her pillow.

Those damn lists.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been two months since the start of the project, now. Blake and Weiss had made many progresses, but the red Dust was still unstable, and after a while, it would suck the other Dust presence. And with both the project, and her position as head of R&D, she felt like she had two jobs at once, and she had to arrive earlier and leave later than she used to. Working longer than she should. And the repeatedly fails was weighting her, even if she knew it could take years to stabilise the red Dust.

She never thought she could fall asleep on the job. Never. She always thought she could manage throughout the day. But as her days grew longer, her nights were shorter. And as she was stressed all day, she couldn’t sleep at night.

More often than not, when she was sitting at her desk in the office she shared with Blake, she would write something down on her papers, blink, and then she opened her eyes three hours later, her head nestled on her arms, resting on her desk. When she straightened her back, inhaling sharply as she woke up fully, she felt something slide down her shoulders; Blake’s lab coat. She blinked again, pulling the coat on her lap, and she would catch something on her desk in the corner of her eye. Blake had left a sandwich, a bottle of water and an apple, along with a post-it where a smiley face was drawn on it.

The first time, she had been mad. She had asked Blake why she didn’t woke her up, saying that it was unacceptable for her to sleep at work, but the faunus only shrugged, answering with a simple “You were tired, so I let you sleep.” The day after that, she drank enough coffee to feel her heart beat at a crazy pace all day, her body too restless to stay still for a minute, and that night, lying in bed, she had been panicked, her phone close to her, as she was fearing a heart attack. So she decided to drink less coffee. But when she did, she fell asleep on her desk. And the day after too. And the day after it. And the other too.

After she fell asleep for the whole week in a row, the eye bags under Weiss’s eyes growing darker and darker as she made mistakes more often, dropping lamella more times in a week than she did for five years, Blake stepped in.

“You should take a break” she suggested gently, sitting behind her own desk, scribbling something, as she saw Weiss straightened her back from hers, waking up.

Pale-blue eyes stared at her for a moment, before lazily blinking, glancing down on the food Blake had left on her desk, pulling the lab coat on her lap.

“I can’t” she whispered quietly. “I have work to do.”

“You can’t work like that, Weiss” Blake argued, softly but firmly as she leaned her elbows on her desk. “You’re practically sleep-walking half the time. Sometime I wonder if you even know what you’re doing.”

When she saw the frail shoulders slouch slightly, she walked to her, sitting on the edge of her desk to rest a kind hand on her shoulder.

“Ruby’s worried and so is Yang. I am, too” she added, squeezing slightly. “I know you think you have to work, but that’s not true, Weiss. You can take a few days.”

“No, I can’t” she argued again, her voice thin as she tried to stand, but Blake’s hand on her shoulder forced her to sit again.

“Weiss, you’ve been working impossible shifts for almost two months” Blake insisted, shaking her gently. “Arriving at six in the morning and leaving at eleven at night. I know, I spied on you because I was worried” the faunus admitted, her features sharp, decided. “That is everything except healthy. And I don’t care if you’re not-my-boss,” she tried to joke, earning a slight glare, “but I’m driving you home. Right now.”

Weiss sighed deeply, not having enough energy to argue more. Blake nodded, pulling Weiss to her feet, and kept a hand on her back as they walked in the hallway after they gathered Weiss’s things.

“You kind of have a strange way of showing someone you care about them” Weiss said suddenly as they reached the elevator.

Blake glanced at her as she pressed the button to call the elevator, Weiss swaying gently on her feet. She’s so tired she looks drunk, the faunus thought, rising one eyebrow.

“You always walk on my weak side, saying it’s to protect me, then you notice things I don’t even noticed myself, and you spy on me” she recite, pulling up her fingers. “That, and there are probably other things you do I don’t know about. That’s kind of creepy.”

When she saw Blake flinch, she realised how it sounded, and she grimaced.

“I mean, it kind of is, but it’s alright. That’s how you are. I know you care, and if that’s how you show you care, then I’m fine with it.”

The faunus stayed silent for a moment, enough for the elevator to arrive, the doors sliding open and she kind of dragged Weiss inside, the smaller woman letting her. Then the doors closed as she pressed on the button for ground floor.

“I didn’t really have friends, before now” the faunus finally spoke, her voice quiet. “I don’t really know how to deal with that. I do what I think is right.”

Weiss glanced up, seeing that unreadable mask the faunus wore sometimes, as golden eyes stared at the metal doors in front of her.

“Where are you from?” She asked after a moment.

She saw the faunus flinch ever so slightly. They’ve been working together for months, now. And even if Blake wasn’t the most expressive person, Weiss was observant, too.

“Menagerie” she finally answered in a soft whisper.

White eyebrows shot up.

“That’s… That’s far from here.” She noted.

Blake hummed quietly, wondering if elevators were always so slow.

“Why Vale? Why come here?”

She shrugged, shifting her weight to her other leg.

“Beacon” she answered simply. “Also, I liked the scenery.”

That earned a snort.

“Where do _you_ come from?” she asked, hoping to change the subject.

Weiss was too tired to mind, so she just snorted again, this time ironically.

“Don’t you know? I come from Atlas; one of the reasons Yang calls me ‘Ice Queen’”

The faunus never recalled a time she heard the blonde call her that, but she didn’t say anything about it.

“Then why Vale?”

The smaller woman took some time to answer, raising one hand to her face to rub her eyes. And, because Blake was staring at their reflection, she saw Weiss trail her fingers over the vertical line over her left eye, that Blake had identified as a scar. An old one, the rosy line almost invisible, blending on her pale skin. But as suddenly as her hand raised, it fell down as she glanced up, smiling mysteriously.

“I liked the scenery.”

The quiet ‘ding!’ of the elevator rang, the doors sliding open as they stared at each other. Blake’s lips pulled slowly into a smirk, and Weiss chuckled softly while the faunus set a hand on her back, gently guiding her to the front desk, telling the secretary Weiss would take a few days off, Weiss nodding silently beside her. Then, she let her guide her outside, to the parking lot, and stopped beside Weiss’s car.

“Your keys, please” Blake asked, extending her hand in front of Weiss.

She fished them in her pocket, and let them fall in her hand, already walking to the passenger’s door. She fell heavily on the seat, then pulled on the belt like it was the heaviest thing in the world, finally clicking it with a sigh, making Blake smile. They had barely rolled out of the parking lot, Weiss giving directions, when Weiss’s phone rang, connected with the car’s Bluetooth. When she saw Yang’s name appear on the screen, she let her head fall back on the seat, sighing, before leaning over and tapping the screen to take the call.

“What?” she almost barked as soon as the line was on.

“Weiss? Are you driving?” the accusation in her tone was clearly present, and Weiss huffed, annoyed.

“Blake is driving. She decided I needed a few days off and practically kidnapped me from work.”

“I am so going to high-five you when you get back, Blake” Yang said after a moment of silence, making the faunus chuckle. “Now you take care of yourself, alright, Weiss? Do you need anything?”

The head of R&D closed her eyes, recognising that tone after hearing it too many times.

“Yang, I don’t need anything. I can take care of myself”

“Yeah, that showed” she immediately replied, dripping with sarcasm. “If you want, I can swing by later and cook you something.”

“Yang, that won’t-”

“And make sure to turn off your phone, so you won’t be disturbed.”

“I know, you don’t-”

“Are you sure you don’t need anything? I’ve got those sleeping pills if you ever need them.”

“No, thank y-”

“Ruby says she got the most comfortable blanket ever, and she won’t mind lending it to you if you need it.”

“Yang!” Weiss finally snapped, massaging her temples.

“Yes?”

“Stop covering me! I’m not your sister, I’m your boss!”

“So you don’t want the blanket?”

Weiss grunted, her head falling back on the headrest.

“Uh-oh, she’s pouting” says Yang on the line.

She let out a deep sigh, abandoning the fight.

“Fine, I’ll take it.” She grumbled, loud enough for the blonde to hear.

“Excellent!” the blonde cheered, clearly happy. “Oh, one more thing?”

“What do you want” she mumbled.

“Yes, you’re not my sister, Weiss. But you’re my friend _before_ being my boss. I wish you could remember that, sometimes.”

Blake saw the woman beside her clench her teeth a few times, her eyes staring at the ceiling for a few seconds. The small noise of interference meant that Yang hadn’t hung up, waiting for Weiss’s answer. The smaller woman raised her head, looking at the screen, at Yang’s name for a few more seconds.

“I do remember, Yang. I’m just not used for people worrying about me, you know that.” She finally let out, her voice low and soft. “Thank you.” She added, even more quietly.

“Anytime, Weiss” Yang replied, her voice soft too. “I’ll drop the blanket after my shift. Take care of yourself, now.”

“I will” she murmured, before tapping the screen when the tone indicated that Yang had hung up.

Weiss slouched back in her seat, sighing deeply again, looking out the window, her face hidden behind her bangs. They stayed silent for a moment, Blake glancing at her every few seconds. They were nearly at Weiss’s place. Suddenly her white head turned towards the road, in front of her.

“She’s a royal pain in my ass.” She finally blurt out, making Blake smile. “She really is the biggest pain in my butt.”

Then, after a few seconds of thinking;

“She’s the second, in fact; she makes me think of my mother. But she stopped caring years ago” she added, quiet and quick, before straightening her back. “The parking lot is through here” she pointed, before pressing a button on the ceiling of the car.

Blake pulled the car inside, then parked it near the door, as Weiss instructed.

“I still think the only reason I’m here is because I am far too tired to argue with you.”

Weiss’s quiet voice surprised her as they walked towards the elevator, and she looked down to see the smaller woman walk with her eyes closed, holding onto the faunus’s arm.

“Doesn’t it ring a bell when you’re too tired to argue with someone?”

She huffed, smiling slightly as she slapped the faunus’s arm.

“Besides, I can be really stubborn. I _would_ have taken you home, liking it or not.”

“What, you would have thrown me over your shoulder and carry me to the car?” she asked, opening her eyes to glance up, joking.

“If it had come to that, yes, I would.” Blake answered, serious.

“Remember me to never upset you” Weiss patted her arm a few times, playful.

“My father always saw my stubbornness as strength” she said as she pressed the button to call the elevator, which arrived almost instantly. “He always said it would help me, that I was meant to do great things. My mother always said it would bring me trouble.”

“Which one was right?” Weiss asked, entering the elevator and pressing the button to her penthouse.

Blake shrugged.

“Both” she said as the doors closed.

 

**** 

 

“Isn’t it a little… _too_ spacious?”

Blake glanced around, dropping the keys on the kitchen island while Weiss struggled to step out of her shoe, kicking it off with a frustrated huff.

“It is far too spacious for me. But I’m also far too lazy to find another place. And I don’t have time. Also I love the view.”

She then started marching out of the kitchen, and Blake followed her, still glancing around. Her entire apartment could fit two times and a half in Weiss’s living room, she supposed, shaking her head. Weiss didn’t even bother giving her the tour, walking straight to her room, and when Blake stepped in the doorway, she stopped.

First, the bedroom was absolutely, ridiculously spacious. Almost as wide as the living room. The furniture were scares but thick, dark wood shaped, sculpted by hand, she noticed as she got closer, feeling it when she touched alongside it. But what made her gape, her mouth hanging open, was the really imposing four poster bed, pushed over the side wall on the middle of it, parallel to the window and the balcony, she noticed.

“What?” Weiss asked, pulling her from her reverie, her eyes narrowed slightly.

“No wonder Yang calls you ‘Ice Queen’” Blake started, stepping forward, running a hand over one of the wooden poster, noticing the same work from the furniture. “This bed is made for royalty.”

There was no trace of teasing, only really quiet awe as Blake kept staring at the details carved in the wood, amazed, and her retort died on her lips. Weiss walked out in the bathroom to change, Blake still inspecting the carvings, and when Weiss walked back in the room, in a light blue nightgown, Blake was crouched in front of her bedside table, running her fingers up and down the side of it.

“I can leave you alone with it, if you want” she teased, sitting on the edge of her bed to pull on her hair tie.

Blake huffed, shooting her a glare, but she sat back on her heel, still staring at the carvings.

“Before I wanted to go to college, I wanted to do woodworking” she smiled a little. “I was always good with my hands, and I loved working in my uncle’s shop; he made homemade furniture like these” she pointed them quickly, before looking up at Weiss. “So I kind of get excited when I see some. It brings me back to good old times.”

She stood, resting her hands on her hips with a small sigh as Weiss brushed her hair, looking up at Blake.

“I wish I had the space to do some. It would probably ease my mind when I’m overthinking.”

Weiss nodded, brushing her hair one last time before setting down her brush.

“You weren’t wrong when you said it was made for royalty” she sighed, standing and crossing her arms over her chest.

“Really?” Blake raised her eyebrows, looking over the poster again.

“Yes. Well,” she rolled her eyes, huffing slightly. “Not in the way you meant it, probably.”

Dark eyebrows frowned and golden eyes glanced at her.

“These are all Athlesian wood, back when there were more trees than buildings in Atlas” she sighed, reaching a hand to touch the poster with the tips of her fingers.

“That’s why I wasn’t able to recognise what kind of wood was used” Blake snapped her fingers, a small smile on her lips. Then, she froze. “That means they’re old.”

“Very” Weiss nodded. “A few centuries. They’ve been restored and reinforced, but still. They were meant for the Chancellor of Atlas, which was, at the time, the closest thing to royalty.”

Blake whistled, impressed.

“They were made by a small woodworker; a single man was running the business. They say it took him a few months just for one poster” she said, her finger tapping on the wood a few times, before folding it back against her, crossing her arms again. “The Chancellor was so upset by the time it took to make all of this” she says as she wave her hand before her, meaning the furniture, “that he flogged the poor man to death in front of his business. The Chancellor had apparently a very short temper, and poor skills to deal with it. The woodworker was my… numerous great-grandfather.”

Blake barked a laugh.

“And now, you have it.”

“Now I have it” Weiss nodded.

“Can we call it the ‘circle of irony’?”

Weiss huffed, glancing outside for a moment.

“Can I… ask you something?”

The sudden serious tone she took, her eyes shying away from hers made Blake’s brows furrow.

“Anything” she answered instantly.

“It’s… kind of a selfish demand” she hesitated again.

Blake raised her eyebrows, and angled her head to try and catch her eyes, to show her she was willing to give her anything she needed.

“Could you… stay with me? Until I fall asleep?”

Blake huffed, sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling gently.

“Of course I will”

“I meant” she sighed, interrupting herself. “I meant could you lay down with me?”

Blake blinked, her smile frozen on her face. Weiss quickly resumed, staring stubbornly outside at the balcony.

“I-I don’t need to be held or something I just – I want a presence, you know, maybe it will make me fall asleep faster to just have someone beside me, you don’t even have to be under the covers with me I just-”

She stopped, her rambling dying pathetically on her lips when she felt Blake’s hand on her arm.

“Alright” the faunus smiled gently at her. “If that’s what you need.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it, nodding once, a small, discreet pink tint coloring her far-too-pale cheeks.

Weiss slid under the covers while Blake pulled on the heavy, thick curtains, leaving the room in near total darkness. But as Blake made easily her way back to the bed, Weiss remembered that faunus people could see in the dark. She felt more than she saw Blake lay down beside her, over the covers, and the faunus shifted slightly, sighing when she was comfortable. Weiss sneaked closer, just enough for her forehead to brush against Blake’s shoulder, feeling her warmth through her shirt.

“Thank you” she murmured.

Blake hummed, closing her eyes. Weiss’s bed was, by far, the most comfortable bed she had ever lay on. And as she heard Weiss’s breathing already deepening, she thought that maybe, a little nap wouldn’t hurt.

 

**** 

 

Yang knew Weiss always left her door unlocked when she was at home, something that she never missed to scold her about, so she wasn’t surprised when the door opened. She saw two pair of shoes, and knew Blake was still here, so she closed the door quietly, knowing the faunus’s hearing was quite sharp. As she tip-toed her way through the penthouse to Weiss’s bedroom, flicking on the light in the hallway, she managed to not make a sound, balancing the soft blanket Ruby insisted for Weiss to take. She pushed the door open, and the light of the hallway fell on the two sleeping silhouette. Weiss was curled up into a ball, snuggled close against Blake’s side, the white head comfortably tucked on the crook of the taller woman’s shoulder, Blake’s head lolling to the side, her face half hiding in Weiss’s sprawled white hair. The two breathed deeply, almost in sync, and Yang had to bite the inside of her cheek not to make a sound. She pulled out her phone, taking a photo silently, and sent it to Ruby.

Then, after biting her lip a few times, a large grin split her face, and she send it to Weiss, too, adding a few words.

_That’s really gay of you, Weiss_

_Love, Yang_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bird mom friend Yang. yes.


	4. Chapter 4

Blake woke up with a start, already halfway up when a hand fell heavily on her shoulder. Blinking, she looked up, seeing Yang stare at her with a worried frown, a finger across her lips to tell her to stay silent. Blinking again, she glanced around, trying to calm her pounding heart in her chest as she slowly remembered where she was, until she felt something nudge her side, and she glanced down.

Weiss was snuggling closer to her, her hand gripping Blake’s shirt in her sleep as she nuzzled on her side, having been disturbed by Blake’s sudden movement but didn’t woke up.

“I’m really sorry” Yang was whispering barely louder than her breath, but she knew the faunus would hear. “I just wanted to drop the blanket. You’re a terribly light sleeper, Blake”

The faunus nodded in agreement, silent, and tried to gently pull away from Weiss, knowing by the way no light was filtering between the crack of the curtains, and also by Yang’s presence, that it was the evening. She didn’t mean to fall asleep, to stay that long. But hell, she’d been so comfortable. Yang pulled her hand away, stepping back as Blake shifted, setting one foot on the floor, and she was about to stand when she felt Weiss’s arms circle her waist, clutching tighter at her shirt as she snuggled closer, curling around her like a demanding cat.

Blake froze on the spot, hearing the soft whine Weiss made, pouting in her sleep, and the trembling sigh that accompanied it. And if she was being honest with herself, it was the cutest noise she ever heard. She glanced up at Yang, about to ask for help or something, but the blonde was smiling widely in the dark.

“Sorry, Blake” she said as quietly as before. “I was about to offer you a lift, but it looks like you’re not going anywhere.”

Blake frowned, glancing down at Weiss, then back up, opening her mouth to argue but she felt the blonde’s hand on her shoulder again, pushing her down gently.

“Come on, Blake. You deserve to rest, too. You’ve been working a lot lately. Plus, you can’t seriously convince me that her bed doesn’t feel like heaven. And she’ll be happy to have someone in the morning.”

The blonde insisted, nodding encouragingly as she gently set the faunus down, and Blake rolled her eyes, finally settling back, gently moving Weiss so she could have a little room, the smaller woman sighing contentedly when she snuggled back to her again.

“She’s really clingy when she sleeps” Yang told her, as if she hadn’t noticed it already.

Blake glared at her, staying silent, fearing that she would wake the sleeping woman if she talked loud enough for the blonde to understand. But Yang only winked in the dark, and she unrolled Ruby’s blanket on them, puffing it a few times so it would fall comfortably on both of them, then tucked in neatly on Blake’s side.

“There, all set. Night, kids” she whispered playfully, seeing the glowing golden eyes narrow at her.

And she silently walked out the room, pulling on the door until it was open only by a few inches, the light in the hallway staying open. The faunus sighed, this time trying to relax, as she heard Yang pace around in the distance. She wondered what the blonde was doing, until she hear the fridge open, the blonde rummaging through the cabinets, and realised that Yang was about to cook something, like she said earlier. She smiled. Weiss have really good friends, she thought. And she couldn’t believe she was slowly being a good friend, too.

She felt Weiss snuggle closer, her cheek rubbing slightly against her shoulder. She could feel her breath through her shirt, Blake preferring thin fabric to wear under her lab coat. And after a few minutes, Weiss snuggled closer again, this time sliding a hand over her stomach. Blake tensed for a second, but Weiss’s breath was still deep and even, and the smaller woman was completely relaxed. She was still sleeping. And when she got closer again, squishing Blake’s arm between their bodies, the faunus rolled her eyes.

As gently as she could, she wiggled her arm from between them, Weiss frowning slightly in her sleep, and gently pulled to smaller woman to her, Weiss snuggling impossibly close, all against Blake’s side, her head on the faunus’s shoulder, her face buried in her neck, as Weiss’s slender arm laced lazily around Blake’s waist, one knee slightly invading, resting on Blake’s thigh.

“Clingy, huh?” the faunus mused, a small smirk pulling her lips when Weiss finally stayed still, apparently satisfied with her sleeping cuddles.

As if it was an answer, she felt Weiss nuzzled her neck as she sighed, her knee creeping a little more on her thigh. She shook her head gently, closing her eyes with a soft smile on her lips.

 

**** 

 

She woke up slowly, savoring the feeling, her eyes staying closed. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she had enough sleep, and she felt like she was wrapped in a cloud of warmth. She sighed, not wanting to start her day. Then she remembered that she didn’t have to, technically having a few days off, and she smiled, sighing-grunting happily as she wanted to shove her face back into her pillow. But when she heard a soft sigh, she opened her eyes, startled.

Blake’s chin was right in front of her eyes. She blinked a few times, trying to glance around without moving. She felt mortified when she realised she had cuddled close, knowing the faunus wasn’t particularly keen on physical contact. But when she glanced up, twisting her head slightly, she saw Blake sleeping peacefully, her lips slightly parted, her ears drooped in her rest. She could feel the ups and downs of her stomach as her arm was laying on it, and she could see the slow pulse beating at the base of Blake’s neck, her shirt’s first two buttons had come undone in her sleep, and the opened collar gave her a casual look that looked good on her, Weiss noticed.

Before blushing furiously, as her eyes trailed down Blake’s neck, seeing the smooth skin of her chest, the shirt closing on a button still holding stubbornly just at the beginning of her breast, showing a really small portion of the faunus’s black laced bra. She closed her eyes, kicking herself in her mind. She cracked one eye open again, looking over the faunus at the clock, resisting the urge to look at the sleeping woman again. She hummed quietly when she realised that it was still quite early in the morning, noticing the small lines of sun filtering through the cracks of the curtains. And she settled down smugly, hiding her face in Blake’s neck, enjoying the feeling while it lasted.

 

**** 

 

“Are you alright?”

Blake was staring at her with concern from her seat on the couch, leaning her back against the armrest, a book on her lap. Weiss nodded, knocking her fist a few times on her chest as she coughed a few more times, the blush creeping on her face not only caused by her coughing fit.

She had been eating the fruits Yang had neatly diced and put in a bowl, wrapping it then setting it in the fridge for them to eat in the morning, along with a plate full of pancakes they’d only have to heat up in the oven. But the faunus said that she never really ate in the morning, and after snatching a few fruits from the bowl, she had drifted to the large bookshelves covering the entire far wall of the living room, sliding her fingers over the spines, before picking one. Weiss was only lazy, eating her fruits as she sat on her stool on the kitchen island, trying to find the strength to stand and work the oven.

But before she went to the stove, she walked over to pull her phone from her coat’s pocket, turning it on, wanting to thank Yang for the breakfast and Ruby for her blanket. She sat on her stool again, sipping from her glass of water, brows furrowing as she saw Yang had sent her messages, tapped on the screen to see them, and she chocked on her drink.

In front of her eyes was a photo of her and Blake, and she could see herself curled, leaning her head on Blake, with the few words Yang added. But it was more the second picture that embarrassed her.

It was again a photo of them, taken two hours later, judging by the time the blonde sent it to her. Blake was lying on her back again, just like in the first photo. But now, Weiss was flushed with the faunus, her head resting over Blake’s chest, one arm wrapped around her and one leg resting over hers. And, again, Yang adding a few words.

_Ruby said, and I quote: ‘Weiss is so thirsty for the hot scientist’_

When she finally controlled her breathing, waving at Blake to tell her she was alright, she gritted her teeth, tapping on the screen with more force than necessary as she typed down a message.

_Yang._

She saw the bubble with the three dots appearing, telling her Yang was typing.

_Morning, sunshine_

_I am going to throttle you when I get back._

There was a few seconds of waiting before the blonde was typing again, and she figured, her eyes narrowing at her phone, that she was laughing.

_Can you even reach my neck?_

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

Blake’s voice right beside her made her jump, squeezing her phone to her chest protectively. The faunus looked at her, a single eyebrow raised, before she sat on the stool next to her, reaching for a strawberry in the bowl of fruit. Her shirt is still unbuttoned, she noticed, the collar opening slightly when she leaned over at the bowl, and she swallowed, feeling her mouth dry, suddenly wondering if Ruby was right.

“Y-Yes, I am” she answered, trying to act casual. “I was thanking Yang for the breakfast.”

Golden eyes flashed at her in a sidelong glance.

“Then why do you look like you want to throw your phone through a wall?”

Crap.

“Because she’s being a pain in the ass” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “Again.”

“Are you sure you two are friends?” Blake asked playfully, biting down on the red fruit.

“Sometimes I do ask myself that question” She mumbled, but a fond smile was on her lips as she stared down at her phone.

 

**** 

 

It took her two days. Two little days, before she got bored out of her mind, no matter how many good books she picked, how many good movies she watched, or the walks she took, she was about to peel the wallpaper off the walls of her apartment, so she decided to swing by the R&D.

She parked her car at her spot, and waved to the secretary as she walked quickly to the elevators. She pressed the button, waiting for the elevator to stop at her level at a turtle pace. But when the doors slid open, she stood in front of a tall, pissed off blonde woman looming over her, looking down at her with narrowed lilac eyes and pinched lips, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Oh, come on” Weiss grumbled, rolling her eyes.

“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to rest, not go to work!” she scolded her, stepping out of the elevator.

She glanced over Weiss’s head, bowing slightly to the secretary, and Weiss glanced back to the woman sitting behind the desk, feeling betrayed.

“You go back home right now, young woman” Yang grumbled, taking her elbow gently and pulled her towards the front doors.

“I am not a child, Yang” she hissed, trying to look professional as she jerked her arm out of the blonde’s grasp. “First of all, I am your boss. I don’t mind when we are alone, but act like it when were not” she talked in a low tone, trying to be discreet as she pulled on her shirt, smoothing the lines and small wrinkles the blonde had made. “Second, I’m bored. I can’t do nothing, and now I’m going crazy at home. I won’t make a full day, but I want to work.”

The people walking by didn’t even seem to notice them, and she was glad. Glancing around quickly, she touched the blonde’s elbow, asking silently for her to follow her out of the way, and they walked towards the side of the elevators, escaping the flow of people.

“Look, Yang. I’ll make a half day. I’ll be gone by two. I just… I have to do something. I tried everything back at home, but…” she trailed off, running a hand through her tied up hair, her usual off-centre ponytail.

Even if Yang wanted her to relax, to rest, she knew her friend. And indeed, Weiss wasn’t used to do nothing, to be lazy all day long. So she stared down at the smaller woman, thoughtful, for a moment.

“You know I can’t really stop you, right?” the blonde finally asked.

“I know, but I don’t want you to be mad.”

And she sighed deeply, letting her arms fall to her side, before leaning over, gripping gently Weiss’s shoulders.

“If you’re not gone by two-” she started, serious.

“You’ll drag me home, I know” Weiss finished, wrapping her hands around her wrists gently, squeezing once.

The blonde sighed again, staring down into pale-blue eyes, before glancing around, making sure nobody was in sight, and she pulled her into her arms, hugging her gently.

“Don’t work too hard, then” she murmured in her hair, petting her white head.

“I’ll try my best” Weiss answered with a small smile.

Yang smirked, pulling away and nodded once. They walked back to the elevators, the blonde pressing the button to call the elevator, and a few seconds later the doors slid open, and they stepped inside.

“You know, I think you should ask her out” Yang blurted out as they were waiting for the elevator to reach their floor, looking thoughtfully up at the light indicating the levels.

Weiss glanced at her, humming neutrally, but she shifted her weight to her other leg, Yang noticing right away.

“Look, Weiss-”

“I don’t think-”

They stopped at the same time, as abruptly as they started.

“You first” the blonde offered, bowing slightly her head.

She could see her boss bit her lip a few times, as she shifted her weight again.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea” she finally let out quietly.

“Why not?” Yang huffed, slipping her hands in her pockets as she leaned her shoulder against the wall to better look at her. “You’re interested, and if I read her as good as I always read people, she is, too.”

“That’s not-” she stopped, sighing, and Yang could see her index finger tapping a few times on her thumbnail. “I don’t want to date coworkers.”

“Why not?” she said again, growing confused.

Weiss glared at her for a few seconds, before turning slightly in her direction.

“I don’t want to date coworkers because of what happened with you.”

Yang frowned, half-surprised, half-offended.

“What do you mean, ‘because of what happened with me’?” she asked, her voice a little sharp. “There’s nothing wrong with me, Weiss.”

“Because of how you act with me in front of others, Yang” Weiss sunk her thumbnail in the skin of her index finger, trying to stay calm.

But the blonde only snorted. “Yeah, as if I’ll act with a stick up my butt like you do.”

Weiss felt her eye twitch once and she gritted her teeth.

“You always forget that I’m your superior, Yang. You always forget that I’m your colleague. This isn’t high school, Yang, it’s my heritage! Maybe you don’t care about your reputation, but I do!”

The blonde rolled her eyes, sighing loudly, as if she already knew what Weiss was about to say next.

“If my father knows I’m dating my subordinates, what do you think he’ll do?” the smaller woman continued, glaring daggers at her.

The blonde shrugged, pulling her hands from her pocket and clapped them on her thighs with a little more force then necessary.

“I don’t know. Maybe he’ll think that you’re human, too.” She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “You can’t make me believe he never slept around with his subordinates. Your father’s like, the biggest jerk on Remnant.”

“Look” Weiss sharply let out, “I don’t want to argue with you.”

“Good, me neither.” Yang replied sarcastically, crossing her arms on her chest.

“So let’s stop talking about it.”

“Fine”

“Fine” Weiss hissed for good measure.

They fell silent, the quiet elevator music filling the silence. Weiss pressed on the button again, pestering on the slow pace of the elevator. But just before the doors opened, Yang straightened her back.

“I was about to say that I wanted you to be happy, and I thought that Blake could help you with that. But you do what you want.”

And she slipped out as soon as the doors opened, leaving Weiss alone as her pale-blue eyes followed her, her shoulders slouching slightly.

 

**** 

 

If anything, her ‘conversation’ with Yang had mined her mood, and the only thing she wanted to do now was to go back home. But, since she was here, she thought as she sat behind her desk with a sigh, running a hand on it as if she was gone for years. She stared at the wood for a long moment, asking herself why she always, _always_ had to be this difficult, not really knowing the answer, and it was at that moment Blake walked in, a coffee mug in one hand, and an open file in the other, frowning down at it as she read. But Weiss didn’t say anything, and she only watched the faunus walk to her own desk, sitting on the edge of it as she took a sip off her mug.

Blake had an internal radar, for sure. Because the faunus suddenly scowled at her page, before looking up directly into her eyes, and Weiss could positively affirm she hadn’t made a sound.

“What are you doing here?” Blake asked, her tone surprised and slightly accusatory.

Weiss sighed, already tired of hearing that question.

“I wanted to work a little, but now I don’t know if I’m still in the mood.”

Blake raised her eyebrows. Clearly, it wasn’t an answer she expected. She stared at her for a moment, Weiss glancing away, avoiding her eyes. The faunus frowned again, but this time with worry. She walked to her, sitting on the edge of the desk.

“Are you alright?” she asked softly, angling her head to try and catch her eyes.

Weiss shrugged, staying silent. After a moment of hesitation, the faunus brushed her fingers over her shoulder.

“Ruby asked me to assist her for an experiment. Want to join?”

Weiss smiled a little, grateful for the physical contact, as small as it may be. And after a deep sigh, she nodded and stood, and they walked out in the hallway, Blake catching her file she’d left on her desk on the way. Blake pushed the door leading to the testing ground open, and Ruby glanced over her shoulder, smiling when she saw them enter, not surprised to see Weiss there.

Probably Yang had told her she was here today.

 

**** 

 

The test Ruby wanted to do was, all in all, simple. She wanted to try again what she did with the lightbulb; this time with red Dust alone and a small, sealed compartment, not as unpredictable and unstable as a lightbulb.

But the red Dust was highly volatile in powdered form, and even the slightest breeze could set it to burst. So it was with the protective head-to-toe suit on that Ruby stepped in the glassed cubicle, this time prepared if it exploded.

It was also a protection for direct contact; they had reports in the past of burns or illness from being in extended contact with Dust crystals, or breathing too much of the powdered Dust.

We know so little of these, Weiss thought, munching on her pen as she watched Ruby without really paying attention. It’s practically the only thing that is giving enough energy to light them worldwide, but what did they know about it? Could it be used for different purposes? They knew the blue Dust was more stable, and instead of exploding or setting on fire, it froze everything in its path. The yellow Dust formed small lightning, electricity. And there were probably other form of Dust that they still didn’t know about.

She sighed, this time pushing repeatedly on the button of her pen, making it click every time. If only they knew more about auras. The thing was, only humans and faunus had auras, and she couldn’t bring herself to think about experimenting on them. They knew it served as a kind of shield. If one got hurt, some of the damage would be knocked off one’s aura, and if it was too much then, and only then, it would hurt one. There was once a scientist, a few decades ago, that had dedicated his life to try and study auras, well, his own. He was the reason they knew what they did about them. He died during one of his experiment, because he experimented on himself.

She saw on the corner of her eye Yang enter the cubicle with her and Blake, and stood a few steps beside her. Weiss was still clicking her pen repeatedly, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared in front of her without really looking at something in particular. Blake and Yang exchanged a glance, and the slight twitch in the faunus’s ears was the only hint she needed. The blonde stepped closer to the smaller woman, and gently, as to not startle her, wrapped her hand over hers, the clicking stopping instantly.

“Sorry” she mumbled, quickly glancing up.

Yang smiled a little, squeezing her hand, and pulled it gently, Weiss raising her hand without resistance to let Yang look at her wristwatch. And the blonde tapped on it twice, humming, as she glanced down at her expectantly.

She sighed. It was two in the afternoon.

 

**** 

 

For the rest of the week, she came to R&D, only making half days, always out by two. If not, Yang would loom over her, following her around until she snapped and leave. But even if she did find it annoying, she knew the blonde was only worried about her. Blake and the sisters visited Weiss after their day almost every night, and she greatly enjoyed that. At the start of the second week, she alternated. One day she worked on their project with her small crew, the other she was the head of R&D, returning to her duties after a week of absence meaning there would be a lot to do, but she didn’t mind. At least, she wasn’t doing both at once, and she was doing normal shifts, now.

But when she was passing her days closed in her office on the upper floor, she missed her shared office with Blake. Her single presence made her feel at ease and relaxed, because she knew she could always ask for her help if there was something. Or if she just wanted to talk. And when, one day, when she was almost drowning in papers on her desk, sighing as she closed a file only to open another one, she heard a knock at the door, glancing up and locking her eyes with golden ones, she felt a warm fuzz run through her as she smiled, waving her to enter.

“I was wondering how you were doing” Blake spoke softly, closing the door behind her before sitting in the comfortable chair in front of Weiss’s desk.

The smaller woman sighed deeply, glancing at the piles of files siting on her desk.

“I’ll live” she let out, making the faunus huff with a slight smirk.

“Did you bring a lunch, today? I was about to go grab something” Blake pointed over her shoulder, raising one eyebrow. “Maybe we could go together?”

Pale-blue eyes glanced down at the small paper bag at her desk foot, the lunch she’d brought for today, but she discreetly pushed it further under the desk, concealing it from Blake’s view.

“No, in fact I didn’t” she lied with a gracious smile. “And I could use a break. Lead the way” she stood, grabbing her coat from the hat stand.

And Blake gave her the most beautiful smile she’d ever seen.

And she wondered if asking her out was that much of a bad idea.

 

**** 

 

It was a project day, so she was with her small team, ‘team RWBY’, Ruby liked to call them. Weiss objected that she should be the first letter, for it being her project, but Ruby argued that there wasn’t anything she could think of starting with ‘W’, and so, she agreed with her. The younger woman looked pleased enough for the team’s name being her own, and she didn’t want to be a pest and change it.

And so, she was in the lab with Blake, both of them busy with their respective microscope, until suddenly, Weiss straightened her back.

“Blake?”

A humming answered her, one ear perking towards her.

As the seconds went by, she saw dark eyebrows furrow slightly, but she didn’t glance up.

“Do you have plans tonight?” she blurted out quickly.

She arched one eyebrow.

“You want to do something?”

“I meant do you want to go out?”

Golden eyes finally looked up, slightly confused.

“You mean, like grabbing dinner?”

Weiss sighed, closing her eyes as if she was pained, and Blake straightened her back, her attention on her only.

“I mean… Do you want to go out. On a date. With me.” She grimaced, bowing her head slightly. “I’m trying to ask you out, but I guess I failed miserably.”

Blake stared at her silently, blinking. Weiss cracked her eyes open, grimacing slightly.

“What kind of date?” the faunus asked after a few moment.

“Maybe a ‘dressed nice and restaurant reservation’ kind of date. Or something else, anything you want. Unless you’re not interested, in that case I can always ask Ruby or Yang or both to come with us so it wouldn’t get awkward, if you want to do something of course, and if you’re not interested just tell me so it won’t get awkward and oh God, I’m rambling” her last words died on her lips quietly, pathetically, as she started to toy with her fingers, feeling like a teenager.

The faunus stayed silent for a while, and Weiss kept her gaze down on her hands, already kicking herself internally as she recited every curses she knew, until she heard a soft humming, and as she glanced up, she saw Blake leaning one hand on the counter, the other held to her chin, which she tapped with her fingers thoughtfully.

“Do you mind if I wear a suit?”

Weiss sighed as the faunus smiled at her, a playful glint in her eyes.

“Absolutely not” she answered in a soft, quiet voice, too relieved to talk louder.

The faunus leaned her elbows on the counter, looking directly into pale-blue eyes with her bright, hypnotic golden ones.

“Pick me up at eight?” she said smoothly as she blinked, and Weiss could have sworn that time was going slower now.

She swallowed, her mouth dry, and she nodded vigorously, for she wasn’t able to speak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like when Weiss is being a Useless Lesbian.


	5. Chapter 5

“I can’t believe you listened to me.”

She raised her eyes to the sky as she rummaged through her wardrobe, pulling and tossing aside clothing as Yang’s voice was filled with surprise through the phone against her ear.

“I didn’t listened to you; I just took it under advertisement, and after a lot of thinking I decided to ask her out, on my own accord.” She countered, frowning down at a dress before pulling it aside.

“That literally means that you listened to me.”

“Look, I just-” she sighed, closing her eyes for a second. “I don’t know what to wear. Help me.”

There was a silence, like she knew there would be, and she bitted her lips.

“You know that’s kind of awkward, right? Why ask me?”

“Because you know what looks good on me. And I don’t really see myself asking Ruby; I’ll end up in red from head to toe.”

“Because Ruby likes red” Yang chuckled quietly.

“Besides, I don’t really have friends except you two. And Blake.”

The blonde sighed, and when she heard that, Weiss sat on the edge of her bed.

“Do I really have to beg?”

There was a chuckle on the line, and Weiss grimaced, already knowing what the blonde was about to say.

“As much as I like it-”

“Yang.”

“That won’t be necessary. I’m just glad you didn’t hesitate to ask for help, even for something as casual as not knowing what to wear for a date.”

“Thank you, you’re the best” Weiss was practically clutching her phone as she sighed, grateful.

She heard a snort, and Yang’s voice was slightly bitter as she spoke quietly.

“Don’t lie to my face, Weiss.”

But before she could reply anything, the blonde hummed loudly, thoughtful.

“How about that black dress? You know the one with the slit up the thigh?”

“Black?” she asked, standing and walking to the wardrobe, finding quickly the dress Yang was talking about. “Isn’t it too much for a first date?”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right. We want her to fall from her chair, not die of a heart attack.” She heard her mumble. “Well, just a little one. Okay, how about the lavender one? The sleeveless dress with the open back that hugs your ass just right?”

Weiss hummed, finding the dress in question, running a hand over the fabric to feel it.

“It’s a little thin” Weiss thought out loud.

She heard a loud gasp in her ear, and she raised her eyebrows as she pulled her phone slightly away from her ear.

“Wait I know which one!” Yang cheered, clearly excited. “How about the blue one, the one matching your eyes?”

Weiss searched for it for a moment, then pulled it out, leaning it on her as she glanced to the tall mirror on the wall.

“You think?”

“Uh, duh? You’re always gorgeous, Weiss, but with that on, you’re to die for.”

She huffed as she rolled her eyes, still hesitating.

“Do you need help to fix your hair? Maybe curl it up a little? I could swing by-”

“No, I won’t make you come over for that, I’ll manage. Thanks anyways” Weiss interrupted, still thoughtful as she pulled on the dress, twirling around once.

“Well, that’s too bad, ‘cause I’m already on my way” Yang replied with an amused tone.

“What, no” Weiss stopped, staring at herself in the reflection. “Yang I told you, it won’t be nec-”

And she heard a knock at her front door, echoing in the phone.

She sighed.

 

**** 

 

Weiss was twirling around in front of the mirror, the hem of the dress swirling slightly as she stopped. Her white hair was neatly pulled up, with a few bangs falling on each side of her face, a little curled. The silver necklace she always wore was shining; the small pendent nestled just above the curves of her breasts, drawing the eye nicely, and Yang insisted she kept it. It kind of matched with the dress, and besides, she had no other necklace that would do the job like that. She wore small, discreet sapphire earrings, calling to her eyes again, with just enough makeup to highlight her cheekbones and her lips.

The wide collared dress was indeed beautiful on her. Weiss was filling it nicely, even though she wasn’t as curvy as Yang. The dress hugged her hips, highlighting her slender waist before falling down, the fabric light and thin enough to swish around and form Weiss’s thighs every time she moved.

And as Yang was sitting on the bed, watching her as the smaller woman poked and pulled slightly at her hair with a small scowl on her face, she smiled with a sigh.

“To die for, like I said” she murmured to herself.

Then, she glanced at the digital clock, and straightened her back, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.

“You should move out soon, it’s almost eight” she warned, standing and walking over to peek at her reflection.

“Thanks again, Yang. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

The blonde huffed, and Weiss could see her roll her eyes with an amused smirk.

“Pretty sure you would have managed just fine” she chuckled, shooing Weiss’s hands away and tucking the white stray strand neatly into the complex twists of the bun.

She rested her hands on Weiss’s shoulders, her palms warm against Weiss’s skin, as she locked her eyes with her in the mirror.

“All set. You nervous?”

Weiss nodded slightly, her lips firmly pressed together, and Yang could see her jaw clenching a few times as she looked at herself one more time.

“Hey” the blonde softly called, and Weiss looked up again. “You’re gorgeous. Go sweep her off her feet” she added with a wink, smiling when Weiss did.

 

**** 

 

“I won’t be able to pay my bill if we go there” Blake let out, shocked, looking at the restaurant’s façade as Weiss pulled the car to the side of the road, stopping in front of a young man in a black and white uniform.

“What are you saying” Weiss countered, opening her door, taking the hand the man was offering and giving him her keys. “I’m the one who asked you out; I’m paying.”

Blake pulled out of the car, closing the door as the man sat behind the wheel, and the white car rolled back to the street. Her eyes were glued to the large, wooden double doors, and even with the distance she could see the wood was worked. And after glancing inside through the windows, she didn’t know if she really wanted to enter. But she felt a small hand on her arm, and when she looked down, Weiss was smiling up at her.

“Are you trying to impress me?” Blake asked, her tone playful as she offered her arm, Weiss taking it gently before they started towards the doors.

“Maybe” she answered, a small smirk pulling her lips. “Is it working?”

“Well, I still don’t know if I’m more impressed or intimidated. But I can say that you surprised me.”

“I hope it’s a good sign?” blue eyes glanced up at her, her smile faltering for a second.

The faunus bowed her head in approval, smiling, and Weiss relaxed, her smile returning, as Blake reached her hand to open the door before another man in monochrome uniform opened the doors for them.

She didn’t know if Weiss was simply a regular or if she just knew how that kind of restaurant worked. As soon as they entered, Weiss held her head slightly higher, her back straighter, bowing her head as a waiter walked them to the table Weiss had reserved, slightly isolated from the rest, just beside a tall window giving a wonderful view of the city.

“Do you like wine?” Weiss asked as Blake pulled the chair for her.

“I do. If you want to order some, just surprise me” she answered smoothly, pulling on her own chair and unbuttoning her vest casually as she sat.

The chairs were padded, and had tall backrests, and as soon as Blake finished her sentence Weiss sat back, raising her left hand beside her head with her index and middle fingers up, before twisting her wrist, showing the twenty dollar bill neatly folded between her fingers, never leaving Blake’s eyes. Not a second later, a waiter appeared from seemingly nowhere, leaning over Weiss’s shoulder so she could whisper in his ear as he took the money, slipping it in his sleeve. Blake saw Weiss whisper a few words in the waiter’s ear before he nodded, straightening his back as he bowed his head to Blake, then turned on his heels to disappear out of view.

The way Weiss leaned her back on the tall backrest, a hand resting on the edge of the table, her chin slightly up as she stared at Blake with a small, smug smile, the faunus couldn’t help but think that she looked like a queen. A really attractive queen, always looking straight at her.

Blake was distracted. Weiss usually wore high-collared sweater under her lab coat, or shirts buttoned all the way up. But now, Weiss wore a dress that showed off so much skin, and her eyes were always drawn to the silver pendant, the metal shining as the light reflected on it, and she had a hard time to keep her eyes up. Even more embarrassing, Weiss noticed it every time, seeing golden eyes trail down her neck, then further down for a second, before she blinked her eyes up, making Weiss’s smug grin grow larger.

They were at ease with each other enough so they could find subjects of conversations easily, stopping only when the waiter came back with the wine, and Blake knew without needing to ask that it was one of the best of the cellar. There was only a moment of silence when they were enjoying the wine, after giving their orders, and Blake set her glass down on the table, moving it slightly so she could make the red liquid swirl.

“I never thought you would ask _me_ out” she said, gaining Weiss’s attention. “I always thought you would date Yang. You two seem close.”

Blake saw her hand gripping tighter the foot of her glass, ever so slightly. And she saw her shift in her chair.

“Well, you’re not wrong” she finally let out quietly. “We dated for a while, but…”

She shook her head, sighing as she glanced up at Blake.

“It didn’t work out, I guess” she shrugged slightly.

Dark eyebrows furrowed as Blake nestled her chin in her hand, interested.

“Really? Why?”

Weiss huffed, shifting again in her chair as she let her gaze shy away through the window.

“Why do you want to know? I mean why do you want me to talk about Yang, I’m here with you on a date.”

“I just want to know more about you” Blake shrugged, still toying with her glass. “I don’t really know anything about you except your name, your position, and that you are terribly clingy when you sleep” she added with a playful smile.

“There are other things to know than my past relationships, Blake” she sighed with a small grimace.

“I know. But now, I’m just curious.” She shrugged again, her chin still in her hand. “Yang is a really good person, so why didn’t it work?”

Weiss sighed again, a deep, long sigh that made her shoulders slouch slightly as she stared outside. Her index finger tapped a few times on her thumbnail before she cleared her throat quietly.

“I… I guess we are too different” she started, her voice soft and low. “She’s careless with a lot of things, if you didn’t already know” she smiled slightly at Blake as she glance at her, but her eyes returned to the view. “At first, I thought that it was refreshing. I’m so used to schedule everything almost to the minute, with strong discipline, God forbid if I ever go out of my schedule.”

“I always take notes in my head; I even make lists to help me sleep, because it _does_ help me fall asleep” she added, throwing a hand in the air in exasperation. “And there she was, always making last minutes plans, barging in my office when she was supposed to work, or swing by my place without announcing herself first. But at some point, I guess I found it all starting to annoy me. Like I said, I hate getting out of my schedules. And being with Yang was always just that. I started to get annoyed at every surprise visit, at every last minute plan she wanted to do with me.”

She sighed again, tapping her index finger a few more times, her lips pressed together in a thin line as Blake was listening with attention, her ears flicking once when she heard someone laugh, away from them.

“And don’t make me start on how she acted with me around others, even though she still does it.” She said as she rolled her eyes, huffing slightly. “At some point, we were fighting more than we talked. And they were not small fights; actual ‘yelling at each other’s faces for half an hour until one of us stormed off’ kind of fights.”

She swallowed, her features sharpening for a moment.

“It was draining for us, and even for Ruby. Poor thing was stuck in the middle, Yang venting off to her, and then me. One day, she had enough. She asked to be reassigned somewhere else, because she couldn’t work properly because of us, even if she really loved what she did. She said that it wasn’t healthy. For her _and_ for us. So I ended it with Yang.”

“It was weird at first. We were still working at the same place, and we said we would stay friends, but for the first few weeks, it was still too fresh, and we barely talked to each other. But, I guess, slowly we found each other again. As friends” she assured. “I had my lesson. Besides, it’s not really my style to hook up with my ex.”

When Weiss stayed silent, letting know she was finished, Blake hummed, straightening her back.

“That actually explain a lot of things” she noted, frowning down at her napkin.

Weiss glanced at her, arching one eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just the little implications she does, sometimes. And the way she looks at you when she knows you’re not looking. I think she still loves you.”

Blue eyes stared at her for a moment longer, and she closed her eyes.

“God dammit” she cursed under her breath. “I knew something wasn’t right. She’s the one suggesting I asked you out, actually.” She opened her eyes and looked at Blake. “She was really surprised I listened to her. And, well… she helped me chose what I’d wear for tonight” she glanced to the window again, almost guiltily. “She was really encouraging. She really wants me happy. But when she sent me off, she looked sad, and now I understand why.”

She grabbed her glass, making the wine swirl in it.

“That does explain why she was covering me so much when I took my days off.”

“You look pissed” Blake noted, earning a flash of blue eyes.

“Yes, well, Yang tends to do that to me” Weiss retorted, bringing the glass to her lips. “Can we just talk about something else?”

“Just one last question” Blake said, straightening her back. “Do you still have feelings for her?”

The smaller woman stared at her, her eyebrows raised in utter surprise.

“What kind of question is this” she finally blurted out, blinking. “I’m on a date with you.”

“Yes. But maybe it’s because you wanted to forget Yang. I just want to be sure.”

As Weiss opened her mouth, her face as sharp as steel, the waiter appeared with their orders, and she closed it with a clack, waiting for him to disappear again. As soon as he was out of sight, she leaned over, locking her eyes with hers.

“What kind of person do you think I am? If I wanted to be with her again, then I wouldn’t be here with you. Yes, she’s close to me, but damn it I _loved_ her, Blake.”

The faunus raised her hands slightly in a peaceful motion, bowing her head a little.

“Alright. Sorry to bring this up.”

And she focused on her food, Weiss still staring at her. A heavy silence fell on them, Weiss finally laying her napkin on her lap as she started to eat. After a moment, Weiss put her fork down.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you” she said quietly, looking down at her plate.

“It’s alright, Weiss. I know it’s a sensible subject, and I kept insisting.”

The white head nodded, staying silent again for a moment.

“Is there something else you want to know?” she asked, as quietly as before.

She looked miserable, truly feeling guilty, but still willing to answer whatever question Blake asked her next.

“Yes” Blake bowed her head slightly, raising her fork to her mouth. “I want to know what Atlas looks like. I’ve never been there” she let out with a small smile as she bit down on her food.

A smile crept on Weiss’s lips slowly as she nodded again, this time with a little more energy.

“That is something I can do” she breathed.

And Blake listened all through Weiss’s rambling, talking animatedly as time went on, describing the view she had from her room back at the mansion, talking about her older sister, Winter, telling stories of what they did together as kids, and Blake grimaced when Weiss mentioned that there was snow almost all year long. But before long, the mood at the table was light again, Blake laughing and teasing at Weiss’s stories, and eventually, after the waiter came to pick up their empty plates, Weiss pulled out her phone as they waited for the dessert, and showed Blake pictures she took of Atlas before she came to Vale.

 

**** 

 

She sighed, straightening her back as she massaged her lower back gently, looking down at her work. All the sheets were placed so the design of the arm they were working on was in the correct order, pinned to her wall.

After nodding with satisfaction, she walked out of her office, and through the living room in direction of the kitchen, but as she turned the corner she saw her sister standing near the window, in the dark living room. Arms crossed, still and unusually silent, staring out through the window at the sleeping city.

Ruby sighed, stepping closer to her sister and she set a hand on her back, rubbing gently.

“Hey, I thought brooding was more Weiss’s domain, not yours” she said playfully, but stayed close.

“I’m not brooding” the blonde mumbled, frowning as she kept her gaze outside.

“Tell that to your face, not to me”

Lilac eyes glanced at her, narrowing, for a short second, before her shoulders slumped a little bit.

“She’s out for a date with Blake, tonight” she murmured, her eyes returning outside.

Ruby raised her eyebrows.

“Oh” she let out.

“Yeah” Yang breathed.

The younger sister rubbed her hand on her back again, leaning her head on her sister’s shoulder.

“I’m happy for them. I really am. But now that it’s getting serious, I… It’s just…” she shrugged, but didn’t finish her sentence.

Ruby nodded her head encouragingly, looking up at her as she waited.

“I…”

When she struggled to find the words, Ruby decided to help her.

“You thought you were okay with Weiss seeing someone else” she said softly.

Yang glanced at her again, this time staying longer as she nodded. Ruby sighed, resting her head again on her sister’s shoulder, her arm circling the taller woman’s waist as she hugged her gently.

 

**** 

 

“If you liked Atlas so much, why did you leave?”

They were walking out of the restaurant slowly, Weiss holding Blake’s arm closely. After a few seconds of silence, Weiss sighed, but still had a small smile on her lips as she looked up.

“I ruined the mood once tonight; I don’t want to ruin it again” she joked, squeezing slightly Blake’s arm once. “This is going to be a story for another time. But I do have a question; how’s Menagerie?”

“It’s… sunny.”

White eyebrows shot up at the lack of words.

“Wow. That’s it?”

Golden eyes glanced down at her for a second, her eyes a shade darker.

“I don’t want to ruin the mood.”

“Alright” Weiss nodded. “There would be plenty of stories, if I understand correctly.” She nudged Blake’s side, and she was rewarded by a grateful smile.

As they waited for Weiss’s car, the smaller woman looked over at the faunus. She had a smile on her lips as she glanced around, comfortable in the silence. Her ears kept flicking atop her head, but she didn’t seem alarmed by it, so maybe it was just the noises of the city. Her long, black hair was tied up in a high ponytail, leaving room for her captivating golden eyes and high cheekbones. And Weiss had to say, Blake in a suit was quite a sight. The one she was wearing fitted her like a glove, and Weiss figured the faunus had it tailored.

“I don’t think I told you, but you really are stunning, tonight” Weiss murmured, her thumb rubbing gently the faunus’s arm over the fabric. “If I already told you, then I’m afraid I don’t mind saying it twice.”

Blake’s lips twitched, smiling a little more as she glanced down.

“And you are quite a sight, Weiss” she said softly, covering Weiss’s hand and squeezing for a second.

It was at that moment that the car pulled in front of them, the man coming out bowing at them slightly before handing the keys to Weiss. They sat in the car and returned to the road as they chatted lightly, and as Weiss stopped the car at a red light, she tapped her finger a few times on the wheel.

“Do you want to come over? I know I got a bottle of wine asking to be opened” she said, keeping her eyes on the road as she tried to act casual.

Blake glanced at her, eyebrows raised, but a playful smirk pulled her lips.

“On the first date, Weiss?”

“I didn’t-”

“I’m joking” she interrupted, gently resting a hand on her arm as she chuckled quietly. “Thanks for the offer, but I’d rather go home. It’s getting late and I work early, tomorrow.”

Weiss nodded, smiling slightly.

“Alright, then.”

And she tapped on the arm to signal she was turning. The rest of the ride went smoothly, and when Weiss pulled on the side of the road in front of Blake’s apartment building, she clicked her seatbelt off, and Blake raised an eyebrow at her.

“I’m a courteous date, Blake. I’ll walk you to the door” she huffed as she opened the door, making Blake snort.

The faunus offered her arm graciously again, bowing slightly in front of Weiss, and the smaller woman accepted it as graciously, both of them chuckling as they walked the small distance to the building’s door.

“It was fun, tonight” Blake gently said when they stopped in front of the door. “We should do it again.”

“So that means a second date?” Weiss smiled, her eyes shining.

“That means a second date” Blake assured, smiling too.

“Don’t let me ruin it this time, alright?”

“I’ll try my best” Blake joked.

“I have a suggestion for the next date.” The smaller woman let out after a moment.

After Blake raised a single eyebrow, Weiss started to smirk.

“We could ride the elevator of the tallest building of the city.”

The faunus froze, her smile faltering.

“Why would we do that?” she finally asked, still confused.

Weiss chuckled, squeezing her arm for a second to reassure her.

“I’m joking. It’s because almost everything I know about you, you told them when we were in elevators, so I thought you had a tendency to open up in them.”

Blake laughed, a real, loud laugh, and Weiss couldn’t help but smile like an idiot, giggling a little as Blake calmed down, sighing with a large smile on her face.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t want to go” her voice was soft again as she looked down at Weiss, her eyes taking a soft amber tone.

“Me neither” Weiss admitted, squeezing her arm again.

They stared in each other’s eyes for a moment, and she felt Blake step closer, as the arm she was clinging to slid from her grasp, but the faunus held her hand gently, running her thumb over her knuckles. And as she was about to say goodbye, Blake leaned down, cupping her cheek with her other hand, and Weiss froze as she felt Blake’s soft lips brush on her cheek, just shy of the corner of her mouth.

“I have to go now, or I never will” she murmured, staring directly into Weiss’s eyes.

Blake’s face was so close, she could feel her breath on her cheek, on her lips, and Weiss had to fight the urge to just lean over and take her lips, wanting to feel them against her own as she stared down at the faunus’s mouth, swallowing thickly.

“Would it be so bad?” she heard herself ask, looking up into golden eyes.

Blake, who noticed her stare, smiled again, and something in her golden eyes made Weiss feel her knees go weak and her mouth dry.

“Don’t tempt me.” She growled gently, the sound sending a warm wave through Weiss’s entire frame, and after a second she straightened her back, pulling her hand away.

Weiss swallowed again, releasing the breath she didn’t knew she was holding as Blake opened the door, winking at her one last time before stepping inside, leaving Weiss alone with a dumbstruck look on her face as her cheeks started to color.

That night, laying on her bed and staring at the ceiling, the only thing she could see was two golden eyes, with the ghost of lips on her cheek, and she buried her face in her hands, grunting loudly as she curled on herself in the middle of the far-too-big bed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this took a much deeper and darker tone than expected, and i've spent the last three days writting for this story. this is going to be a wild ride from that point, so buckle up, guys.
> 
> I have already a couple of chapters already written, so if i can't manage to write for a moment, at least i'll have chapters to post.

She was kind of happy that nothing really changed, since their dates. Of course, she had feared that starting something with Blake would make her comfortable enough to want to show others about them, but she had feared for nothing. Blake was as discreet as ever, the only thing that really changed was the way she looked at her, or Blake walking closer to her.

Weiss didn’t really want to confront Yang about her feelings, and so, she waited. She knew Yang enough to know that if it upset her enough, she would come and say it directly. And so, she waited. Even after the second date. And the third. And the blonde never came. She was starting to think that maybe, Blake and her were wrong about the blonde.

But one day, when Blake was in their shared office, leaning over her desk as she wrote something down on her file, Yang strutted inside without knocking, looking at Weiss’s desk direction as she opened her mouth to speak, then realised that the smaller woman wasn’t there. Stopping abruptly, closing her mouth as she frowned slightly, she glanced at Blake.

“Where’s Weiss?”

Blake glanced at her quickly, a wrinkle between her eyebrows as she scribbled a little more down on her papers.

“She had a video conference with her father” the faunus answered, before closing her file with a quiet sigh.

Yang grimaced knowingly as she nodded, staying silent. The blonde bitted her lip for a moment, and turned on her heels to walk out the office.

“Thanks. I’ll come back later, then.”

Blake nodded, humming, and she reached her hand to grab another file, but she stopped when she saw Yang pause in the doorway, looking like she was hesitating.

“Um… You busy?” the blonde asked, turning her head towards the faunus a little.

Blake raised her eyebrows, glancing at the files waiting on her desk, but she only sat at the edge of it, furrowing her brows slightly.

“I can take a few minutes” she said casually.

She saw the blonde bit her lip again as she nodded, taking a few steps in her direction, but stopped a couple of feet away, her hand toying with the hem of her shirt.

“I, uh… I wanted to talk to you for a while, but… I’m not really good, uh, you know. With words” she started, clearly uncomfortable.

Blake only nodded, waiting, giving her the time she needed to continue, and Yang was grateful for that as she took a deep breath, clenching her hands into fists one time.

“I just… I wanted to tell you that I’m happy for you and Weiss.”

Blake raised her eyebrows again, but she bowed slightly her head as a small smile pulled her lips.

“Thanks, Yang.”

“I uh… you probably know that we dated for a while… right?” she asked, suddenly worried that she just told her something Weiss hadn’t yet, but when the faunus nodded, she relaxed slightly. “And, well, she’s still really important to me. And, um… I guess what I’m trying to tell you is, I… I’m glad we’re working together. You and me, I mean.”

She glanced up, locking her eyes with Blake, and the faunus knew she was completely honest with her.

“I get to know you better” the blonde continued. “Hell, I like you” she added, trying to be playful through her nervousness, making the other woman huff with a smile. “I know I don’t have any business with whoever Weiss is dating, but I just… I just want to make sure. Sure that she’ll be alright” She took a deep breath, clenching her hands into fists again. “I know you’re good for her. And I want her happy. That’s…”

She sighed, glancing down for a second, before looking up again at Blake, serious.

“That’s the only thing I’m asking of you, Blake. Make her happy. She deserves it. Alright?”

And Yang stepped forward, extending her hand in front of her, never leaving Blake’s eyes. The faunus, surprised, blinked once, but she stood from her seat and took the offered hand, shaking it twice as she nodded.

“I’ll try my best” she promised.

Yang smiled, a real, warm smile, and she nodded too, gently squeezing Blake’s hand once before pulling away.

“Perfect” she said quietly, and turned on her heels to walk back to the hallway.

But as she reached the doorway, she stopped again.

“Thanks, Blake. I guess I needed that. Needed to tell you.” the blonde said softly, glancing over her shoulder to the faunus.

Blake smiled, crossing her arms gently as she shrugged one shoulder.

“I didn’t really do anything, but you’re welcome, Yang. And I like you too, by the way. You’re funny.”

Yang snorted as she smiled, and she tapped on the doorway as she walked out, waving goodbye to Blake.

On the short walk between the office and the testing ground, she felt lighter, her head slightly clearer. Like a weight had been lifted from her chest.

 

**** 

 

Weiss had come back from her conference with her father irritated and impatient, Blake knowing just with the way her shoulders looked stiff and the permanent scowl she wore on her face for the rest of the day. But she gave her her space. She understood Weiss’s relationship with her father wasn’t really enviable, remembering how, on their first date, Weiss had mentioned her parents numerous times throughout her stories, but never really telling something about them, talking as if they were background characters.

So that night, when they arrived at Weiss’s place, Blake wordlessly went to Weiss’s cellar and opened a bottle of wine for them, extending a glass to her as Weiss slouched in her couch.

“Thank you” Weiss murmured as she took her glass, sipping almost immediately after.

Blake sat beside her, crossing her leg as she sipped her glass too, looking outside through the panoramic window.

“How did it go?” the faunus finally asked, looking at Weiss.

The smaller woman only grunted, her eyes closing as she rubbed her fingers between her eyebrows.

“He was mad, as always. About what? I don’t know, he never tells me. Then I told him about our project, and he seemed to be even more furious. He wants me to make weapons, not help people.” She added with venom in her voice, rolling her eyes as she sighed deeply, sinking deeper in the couch.

Blake smiled sympathetically, patting Weiss’s thigh before resting her hand there gently, her touch always light as she glanced back to the window.

“Yang talked to me, today” she said after a moment.

Weiss raised a single eyebrow, glancing at her.

“Yes, like every other day.”

“No, I mean, she talked to me about you. Well, it wasn’t really about you, it was more about me.”

Weiss frowned, looking at her with a worried look, but Blake smiled gently.

“She said she was happy for us. She said she was happy to get to know me, and she asked me to make you happy.”

After a second, Weiss smiled softly, covering Blake’s hand with hers and she squeezed it gently.

“Of course she did” she murmured, huffing slightly, looking back at the window, but her smile stayed as she sipped her wine.

They stayed silent for a moment, Weiss toying with Blake’s fingers gently as they emptied their glasses, and a few moments later, Blake leaned over to set it on the low table.

“So, are you still up for the movie tonight?” she asked, sitting back closer to her, their shoulders brushing.

“Date night. Right. I forgot” Weiss winced slightly, leaning on her shoulder. “Do you mind if we pick a movie and watch it here? I’m not in the mood to go out. We could eat pizza.”

Blake hummed, playfully thoughtful.

“We could light some candles to make it a little more romantic.”

And she saw Weiss’s eyes grow wider as she gasped softly.

“That is such a good idea!” she smiled, setting her glass aside as she stood.

Then, she walked out of the living room, Blake hearing her rummage through the cabinets in the kitchen as she laughed gently.

 

**** 

 

“Are you sure you don’t want a lift? I mean, if we had gone out, I would have dropped you at your place.”

Weiss was still trying to convince her as Blake shrugged her jacket on, rolling her eyes with a small smile.

“It’s not far from here, Weiss.”

“Yes, but it’s late” she countered, still looking at her with a small worried frown as she watched her put her shoes on.

“And?”

“Well, who knows what can happen to a very attractive woman walking alone in the middle of the night” Weiss finally said, then sighed. “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

“Weiss” Blake interrupted her as she was reaching for her coat by cupping her face, thumbing her cheekbones gently. “First: this isn’t the first time I take a walk in the middle of the night, even if it’s really not that late. Second: sometimes _you_ can be a pain in the ass” she teased with a wink, and Weiss growled playfully as she gave her a warning glare, but she still smiled.

“I can’t help being worried if you go out alone, Blake. So it’s either you go and I worry here, or I go with you to drop you safely” she huffed as she wrapped her hands around Blake’s wrists gently, thumbing the inside of them gently.

“Or” she added after a little thinking, her voice a little lower, “You can stay here for tonight.”

She felt Blake’s hands froze for a second and she bit her lips, but her thumbs ran again on her skin as she stayed silent, pinching her lips slightly. Weiss raised one eyebrow, her lips pulled in one small smug grin.

“What do you know? She’s considering it” she murmured, her grin growing larger when she noticed the golden eyes narrowing slightly.

“Stop being so smug about it” Blake growled gently, furrowing her brows to make her look more serious, but her smile betrayed her.

“Make me.”

Weiss spoke barely above a whisper, but her voice was full of challenge as she slowly reached up, her eyes never leaving Blake’s, and she unzipped her jacket. The way Weiss looked at her, so confident, with that annoying smug grin she kind of liked and hated at the same time, she looked like the queen from their first date, and Blake felt a shiver run down her spine as she swallowed. Weiss blinked, looking at her through her eyelashes, and Blake could hear the crashes of her reasonable thoughts in her head as she leaned down to kiss her, Weiss’s lips soft and warm against her own.

Weiss let out a pleased hum, still smiling through the first kiss, but when Blake’s hand sneaked on the back of her head to keep her close, she felt like she melted. Weiss pushed Blake’s jacket off of her shoulders as they kissed, the faunus not bothering to hang it back on the hook, stepping out of her shoes blindly as Weiss pulled her by the shirt towards her bedroom.

They stumbled in the bedroom, wanting to be as close as possible as they walked in, and when Weiss’s hands went up to unbutton Blake’s shirt, impatient and needy, the faunus hummed, sliding her hands up Weiss’s arms to catch her hands.

“Be gently with me” she murmured, catching Weiss by surprise.

Weiss nodded, trying to free her hands as her lips kissed Blake’s neck, but the faunus squeezed her hands tighter as se let out a soft gasp.

“I mean it, Weiss” she murmured again, this time her voice trembling a little. “I want to hear you say it.”

The smaller woman took a moment, looking up at Blake, but it was dark in the room, and the only thing she could really see was the glowing amber eyes, half open, staring at her.

“I’ll be gentle with you, Blake, I promise” Weiss swore, standing on tip toe to kiss her gently.

And Blake released her hands, Weiss bringing them up to cup her face as she deepened the kiss. She felt Blake’s hands fall on her hips, her grip tightening slightly when Weiss set a trail of kisses along her jaw. She let her lips lingered just under it, looking up when she heard a soft gasp as Blake closed her eyes, and slowly, with one hand holding her chin and turning the faunus’s head slightly, exposing her neck, she trailed kisses down her neck, stopping at the base. When she nuzzled a littler down passed the shirt’s collar, she felt Blake tense, and heard her breath catch in her throat quietly.

“Are you alright?” Weiss asked, starting to worry as she looked up, her thumbs caressing Blake’s neck.

Blake nodded sharply, her eyes still closed, but Weiss saw her swallow and could feel the frantic beating of her heart under her thumb, and she poked Blake’s chin with her nose gently.

“Look at me, Blake” she softly ordered.

She saw the glowing eyes return to her, and now that her eyes had accustomed to the darkness, she could see the taller woman’s features.

“We don’t need to do this if you’re not ready, alright?”

Blake’s shoulders slouched a little, and she leaned her forehead against Weiss’s, still holding her close.

“I want this, Weiss. I do. I just… I need you to go slow.”

“Alright. Tell me if I’m too fast, don’t hesitate. I can stop at any time if you want me to.”

And Weiss was true to her words. She worked painstakingly slowly, asking before unbuttoning Blake’s shirt, then kissed her until she relaxed. Asking again if she could push off Blake’s shirt, then doing so gently, and kissed her until she relaxed again. When she asked if she could kiss down her chest, the answer took some time to come, but she didn’t push, instead working even more slowly. Weiss didn’t know how long it took, not that she really cares. She just did that: ask, do, and make her relax. Weiss could feel, against her fingers and lips, bumps and lines along Blake’s body, on her stomach, her thighs, her back and arms, but she didn’t ask questions. She knew what it was. She just kissed them, feeling Blake tense each time shortly, taking in a sharp breath before relaxing against her touch again.

When Blake was stripped down to her panties, the faunus asked her to stop and she obliged, bringing her hands back up to cup her face as she kissed her, feeling the faunus tremble slightly. And gently, she pushed Blake to do the same for her: the faunus undressing Weiss at her pace, taking Blake’s mind off her own naked body.

When they finally climbed on the bed, both only in their panties, Weiss let Blake touch her skin, the faunus’s lips never leaving her for long, mumbling things under her breath as her palms traveled up and down on her, cupping a breast and toying with it, before sliding all the way down to her knee, trying to feel her as much as she could against her.

“Weiss, you… you’re so beautiful” she heard Blake murmur a few times against her skin, sending shivers down her spine.

They rolled over many times, fighting gently for dominance, both of them not really minding who was on top. She felt Blake buck her hips against her when her fingers ghosted over the elastic hem, the faunus making a low noise from the back of her throat, and she looked slightly startled when she realised it was her that did that, as Weiss smiled smugly. She asked, against Blake’s lips, if she could take them off, her fingers teasing, her touch light near the hem, until Blake agreed in a soft gasp.

When they both were entirely naked, Weiss gently rolled Blake on her back, locking her eyes with her for a second, before slowly kissing her way down, teasing at the taller woman’s breasts on her way, lingering at her hips to give her a little time, then kissed her way down to her knee, going up on the inside of her thigh, making her part her legs gently.

It didn’t take Blake long, once she gave the green light to her. Weiss knew what she was doing, and every time Blake dared to look down, she could see in those blue eyes that she was pleased to see how Blake reacted to her touch, and Weiss looked so confident again, and Blake thought it was so _hot_ … She came loudly, clutching at the sheets of the bed as her back arched, Weiss gripping her hips to hold her down. She had been gentle all the way through, and the smaller woman kissed the inside of both thighs before climbing her way up, wiping her mouth before leaning down to kiss her gently, Blake tasting herself on her mouth, and lying down beside her, snuggling against Blake’s side, her fingers drawing patterns over Blake’s stomach as she calmed down.

“Are you alright?” Weiss asked after a moment, looking up at Blake’s face, who had her eyes closed.

“Yeah” the faunus breathed, opening her eyes and glancing down into Weiss’s blue ones. “I just… I really like when you look at me. I guess I got overwhelmed.”

One white eyebrow arched, and Weiss cocked her head slightly to the side.

“I look at you quite often, Blake. It’s not really unusual.”

“You don’t look at me like _that_ all the time. If you did… I don’t think I would have been able to work with you properly” she laughed quietly, running a hand over her face and in her hair.

Weiss’s smug grin returned, and she propped herself on one elbow, bending down to kiss her but before she could, Blake stopped her gently.

“Like that” she murmured, her eyes half closed. “I like when you look at me like that.”

“Really?” Weiss asked, her voice low and playful, her grin growing larger. “How do I look?”

“You look like you know what could make me squirm and you’re about to do it to me” she immediately answered, blushing slightly afterwards. “I like that look.”

Weiss laughed as she leaned down to kiss Blake, brushing a dark strand of hair out of Blake’s face, and she felt her large, warm palms on her back, rubbing for a moment before sliding down, cupping Weiss’s ass firmly, making her moan quietly against her mouth. She stilled her hands there, until Weiss growled in her mouth, arching her back as she straddled Blake’s hips.

“Just touch me, please” she breathed, her voice low and raspy in her ears, and Blake felt them perked up, a jolt running through her entire frame.

She slid a palm between her thighs, then paused, raising her eyebrows as she hummed in surprise, Weiss chuckling sheepishly.

“Yes, well, I like the noises you made.”

The faunus blushed again, feeling Weiss’s grin against her lips, but the smaller woman moaned when Blake’s fingers touched her where she needed. Following Weiss’s indication, Blake holding her by the hip as best she could as she rode her hand, Weiss came, her moan stifled on Blake’s shoulder as she clutched at the wrist between her thighs to keep her hand there.

She collapsed on Blake’s chest, both of them breathing heavily, and Blake could feel Weiss’s heart hammering against her ribcage. After a moment, when Weiss calmed down, Blake wrapped her arms around the smaller frame against her, hugging her gently as she nuzzled her ivory hair, and Weiss held her as best she could, snuggling her face in Blake’s neck, staying like this for a moment. In peace. Both tired, but not wanting to go to sleep, not yet anyway.

“Was it your first time?” Weiss asked quietly after a long moment, her fingers running up and down Blake’s arm gently.

She felt Blake stiffened, but she didn’t push. She kissed her neck gently, feeling the body under her relax again.

“No” came the answer, barely above a whisper. “But I wish it was. It was perfect.”

Weiss hummed, kissing her neck again, and her fingers ghosted over one of the bumps on Blake’s arm, and she already knew without needing lights that it was a rosy bump of flesh, a nasty scar near her elbow, forming a half-moon. Then, her fingers flew to Blake’s side, feeling the three parallel lines, not as prominent as the one on her arm, but she could still feel it under her fingers, just under her ribcage. And, the line just above her hip, about four inches long. She knew there were others, many others, and one day, she wanted to know about every one of them.

“What happened to you, Blake?”

Weiss’s voice was low, quiet, and slightly trembling, and she could feel and hear Blake sighing deeply.

“Menagerie happened” she answered simply, running a palm up and down Weiss’s back as her other hand ran in ivory tresses, pushing them back and out of the way.

Weiss tilted her head, pushing herself back slightly just enough to nestle her chin between Blake’s breasts, listening. Blake glanced at her for a second before sighing deeply again.

“I guess I can say that we kind of are the same in power in our own, respective world” she started, making Weiss’s brows furrow. “You’re the daughter of the most powerful man of the world, and… I’m the daughter of the most powerful man of Menagerie. My father is the Chieftain, and he is… was” she corrected herself, frowning slightly, “the leader of the um… the White Fang.”

She felt Weiss froze, and could see her white eyebrows go up on her forehead, nearly touching her hairline, but before she could say anything, Blake continued.

“My father was a pacific leader. He never wanted to shed blood. I’ve been with the White Fang for as long as I can remember. I wanted to change the world, I want faunus people to be equals to the humans.”

“You’re a White Fang member?”

The question came to her ears, filled with surprise and… anger?

“I was, until I got sick of the new leader and his tendency for violence” Blake quickly answered, glancing down to Weiss. “I quit just before coming to Vale.”

“I heard nobody could simply ‘quit’ the White Fang” Weiss retorted coldly, straightening her back to sit, still straddling Blake.

The faunus stared at her, clenching her teeth as one corner of her lips twitched, her body tensing, and Weiss recognised the unreadable mask Blake wore whenever she talked about her home place.

“Look at me, Weiss. Does it look like I ‘simply’ quit?”

The smaller woman winced, looking down at Blake. She couldn’t make out the scars with her eyes only, but she knew there were many. And before Weiss could say something, Blake wiggled from under her, her ears flat against her head.

“I can’t believe I wanted to tell you” she muttered, struggling to untangle her legs from the blankets. “I should have known. Like father, like daughter.”

Weiss flinched visibly at the mention of her father, and she tried to take the faunus’s hand, but as soon as she touched her, she jerked her hand back, staring at her, her ears flush against her scalp.

“I’m sorry, Blake, I didn’t mean…” the smaller woman started, but let her mouth fall shut, her shoulders slouching as she started to toy with her own fingers, feeling Blake’s stare.

“I was about to say that I didn’t mean to upset you, but my words _were_ mean. I’m sorry, Blake. Please, don’t go?” she said, her voice low and trembling, the end of her sentence rising as she looked up into golden eyes, making it look like a question.

Blake stared at her for a few seconds again, completely still as she was sitting on the edge of the bed, before she turned her head, glancing at the floor, her hair falling over her shoulder concealing her face from view.

“Please, Blake, I’m really sorry” Weiss’s voice was cracking as she tried to calm her breathing. “I’m not my father. I’m sorry. Please, stay.”

Blake’s shoulders slouched slightly when she heard a really, really quiet sob. She knew that comparing her to her father was the worst thing someone could tell her and she couldn’t believe she just did that. She looked over her shoulder, and she felt her heart break. Weiss was kneeling on the bed, tears falling silently down her cheeks as she clutched with white knuckles on the covers, trying not to reach out to the faunus.

“I’m sorry I said that” Blake murmured to her, tentatively laying her hand on the covers, palm up, in Weiss’s direction. “I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry.”

After a second, she felt one of Weiss’s hands in her own, and she squeezed gently.

“I don’t know a thing about the White Fang apart from what Father told me and what I can see on TV” Weiss whispered, sniffing quietly. “I don’t know what they want. I only know they keep making Dust mines explode with all the workers inside.”

“That’s the new leader I was talking about” Blake muttered, her hand stiff, but she still tried to thumb her knuckles gently. “He only wants power to himself. He’s a greedy son of a bitch.”

Weiss’s brows furrowed and she rubbed her eyes quickly, trying to be discreet.

“You know him?”

Blake snorted, but it was a sound so sharp it made Weiss pause. Blake let go of her hand, standing tall beside the bed, and in the poor lighting of the room, Blake pointed at several places on her body, and Weiss soon understood it was scars.

“He left me enough souvenirs so I can say I know him _personally_ ” she hissed through gritted teeth, as her fingers brushed on the scar over her hip that Weiss had kissed tenderly earlier.

“I barely escaped alive” she continued. “He probably thinks I’m dead. Better that way, anyway. He didn’t come after me after all these years, I guess I kept a low profile enough to escape his radar.”

“Why would he come after you, anyway?” Weiss asked, still uneasy. “Why waste his time on some low-graded White Fang member?”

Blake paused, her lips twitching again, but Weiss couldn’t see it. She bit back the retort that was burning her lips, telling herself that Weiss was only trying to understand, and so, she only sat on the edge of the bed, shrugging on her shirt only to feel somewhat decent.

“Are you sure you want the truth, Weiss?” Blake asked, her voice barely above a whisper, sounding tired just thinking about it.

The smaller woman stared at her, blinking, and after a moment, she arranged the pillows before slipping under the covers, patting the spot beside her.

“You tell me yours, I tell you mine. Deal?”

Golden eyes fell on the scar over her left eye. She did wonder what happened… but maybe it was too much, for now.

“Maybe another time? It’s already really late…”

Weiss frowned, opening her mouth to argue but she glanced at the digital clock and her mouth fell shut, sighing. But she still held her hand towards Blake for her to take, silently pleading, and smiled softly when the faunus took it, before sliding under the covers with Weiss. They were on their sides, face to face, holding their hands between them. Blake toyed with Weiss’s slender fingers for a moment, her eyes cast down on their joined hands.

“I’m really sorry about what I said, earlier. I was hurt. I shouldn’t have said that” the faunus murmured, and she felt Weiss squeeze her hand once.

“I know, Blake. I know” was her answer.

“Can I… Can I hold you?” she asked timidly, still keeping her eyes on their hands.

Weiss blinked, surprised to hear that request.

“Of course you can! You really don’t need to ask” Weiss smiled as she snuggled closer.

Blake shifted too, wiggling an arm under the white head and resting her hand on her naked back, feeling her soft skin as the faunus pulled her against her, keeping their joined hands between their chests.

“I just wanted to make sure.”

“It’s not every day you ask to be touched” Weiss mused, nuzzling her neck gently.

Blake smiled, the fingers on Weiss’s back drawing patterns gently.

“It was nice, earlier, when you were on top of me. And when I fell asleep when I took you back from R&D for you ‘vacation’ and you were close to me. I liked that. It feels nice and warm.”

She felt Weiss smile against her skin and her breath tickled her as she sighed, the fingers of their joined hands toying with the collar of Blake’s shirt.

“Why did you put this on? I wanted to feel you” Weiss asked, and Blake didn’t even need to see her to know she was pouting in a really good impression of Ruby.

The faunus shifted, her ears drooping slightly.

“Don’t you think… It doesn’t bother you?”

“What would bother me?”

“The scars.”

“… Blake, I’ve got one right in my face” Weiss deadpanned, but the faunus shook her head.

“I know, but it’s yours. And, yours is almost elegant, compared to mine.”

“I think you’re the first person to tell me my scar is elegant.”

“What do people say, usually?”

“Well, usually, people don’t talk about it. Except two empty-headed engineers that sometimes I wonder why I hired them” she joked, affection clear in her voice.

“What did they say?” she asked, smiling.

“Ruby said it was badass, if I remember correctly” Weiss laughed as she remembered how Ruby’s silver eyes were shining when the younger woman told her that. “And Yang, well. Yang said that it looked badass in front of Ruby. But when we were alone, she said that she thought it was attractive. She um. Liked it very much, and used colorful words to tell me.”

“You know you can just tell me what she said” Blake chuckled quietly at Weiss’s attempt to censor Yang. “I’ll probably agree with her anyway.”

“Alright, then” she shrugged. “She said ‘You can fuck me raw with that face’”

Blake hummed, pursing her lips as she nodded.

“Understandable. You do have a pretty face.”

Weiss snorted, butting her head against her shoulder gently. But before she could settle again, she felt Blake pull away and she whined softly, trying to pull her down by the shirt until she saw the faunus pull it over her head and let it fall beside the bed, laying back to Weiss, this time naked. The smaller woman snuggled closer, already feeling and stealing Blake’s warmth, as she nuzzled just between Blake’s collarbones, before kissing her softly right on that spot.

“You’re beautiful, Blake” she murmured on her skin before kissing her again.

And she felt the faunus sigh a tiny sigh as she nuzzled her hair, her arms wrapping around her small frame to hold her gently.


	7. Chapter 7

“If you want to get back in shape, then you should train with me.”

The four of them were sitting in the small fast food restaurant they had gone many months ago, and Yang was biting down on her burger as she raised her eyebrows at Blake, waiting for an answer.

The faunus shrugged one shoulder, twirling the straw in her glass as Weiss swallowed her bite.

“I don’t think you’re _that_ out of shape, Blake” she remarked, sipping from her straw for a second.

At what Blake huffed, one corner of her lips pulling up as she glanced outside through the window at the darkened city.

“You should have seen me when I first arrived in Vale, Weiss” she chuckled, glancing back at the smaller woman sitting beside her. “Now I’m all soft. I train only once a week because I don’t have the motivation to do so more often. Maybe Yang will drill me enough so I could be as strong as I was” she bowed her head slightly to the blonde, and Yang smiled confidently at her.

“Well, sure enough, you _do_ take your training seriously” Weiss commented at Yang, finishing her burger with a sigh as she leaned back in the booth. “That would give time for Ruby and I to spend some time together” she smiled to the younger woman, huffing slightly when the engineer beamed a smile at her with a gasp.

“What would we do?” Ruby asked, bouncing beside her sister, her hands balling into fists with excitation.

Weiss shrugged, hearing Blake chuckle quietly at Ruby’s excited state, and she leaned her elbows on the table, her hands a few inches away from Ruby’s.

“I don’t know. Relax, I guess. Maybe watch a movie.” But then, after a little thinking, “How about I help you with your little ‘Crescent Rose’ project?”

Silver eyes widened, shining as her smile grew larger, and Weiss winked, extending her hand, and Ruby clapped it happily, now vibrating in her seat.

“Yeah! Oh, this is gonna be fun! You know I love to build things with you!”

“I know, Ruby. I know” she said, smiling, patting gently on Ruby’s arm.

“What’s that project?” Yang asked, finishing her burger in one last, giant bite.

“It’s a project I am funding” Weiss answered, squeezing Ruby’s arm gently. “It’s her birthday gift from me. Ruby came to me a few weeks ago with sketches of some kind of weapon. I know” Weiss raised a hand in front of her to stop whatever words Yang was about to say, “I won’t let her hurt herself, I promise. It’s just… It was so ridiculous, but at the same time it blew my mind with how creative the weapon was.”

“What is it, then?” Blake asked, one eyebrow rising as she glance to Ruby.

“It’s a high-caliber sniper rifle-scythe!” the young engineer blurted out, her smile almost reaching her ears.

Blake and Yang glanced at each other, as Weiss sipped from her straw as if they were talking about the weather. Then, Yang narrowed her eyes.

“It’s a… what?”

“It’s a scythe, Yang. But it’s also a gun!” Ruby nodded, clapping her hands together excitedly.

The blonde stared at her sister in what seemed to be shock, but a slow grin crept its way on her lips, and after a moment, she high fived her younger sister with almost the same amount of excitation as Ruby.

“Well, if you ever need a shooting teacher, you’ve got one” Blake said casually, still toying with her straw.

The three other women stared at the faunus, who pointedly stared outside, her face unreadable.

“You know how to use guns?” Yang asked as Weiss set a discreet hand on Blake’s thigh under the table, feeling her tense.

“Yes. Well, it’s been a while, but you never really forget it” the faunus answered, one of her hand reaching under the table to gently squeeze Weiss’s fingers. “Back when I was with- when I was in Menagerie” she corrected herself at the last second, and before Yang could say something, a loud, excited shrill pierced their ears.

“This is so exciting!” Ruby squeaked, making Weiss winced at the high pitched voice she took. “I can’t wait finishing it, so we could go try it out!”

Blake smiled as Yang laughed, heaving a hand on her sister’s shoulder to try and calm her down as Weiss squeezed gently Blake’s thigh, and the faunus winked at her.

 

**** 

 

The four of them started their activities, Blake and Yang starting to train together, as Ruby and Weiss stayed at R&D on their off-hours to start Ruby’s project. Weiss was no engineer, but she liked her time spent with Ruby, the younger woman always eager to answer her questions, always quick to use examples.

“But, why a scythe-sniper? I mean, couldn’t it just be, I don’t know… a sword-gun?”

Weiss asked that one day, frowning down at the sketches as Ruby was toying with a screwdriver.

“Because it’s awesome?” Ruby answered, a large grin stamped on her face.

Weiss huffed, rolling her eyes.

For team RWBY’s project, it was still going smoothly. Ruby and Yang had design tubes and compartment capable of holding Dust in powdered form that could run the length of the arm. Soon, it would be Blake’s moment to shine: trying to control Dust with aura.

Weiss, for her part, had been able to fuse blue and red Dust together. For a few hours, at least. It was a bitter-sweet victory; she knew now that it could be done, but there was still work to do. As they were starting to actually build the arm, Weiss and the rest of the team had an… unwanted surprise.

As the team were on the testing ground, the secretary knocked on the glass door, making the four women inside turn their heads towards her, and she opened the door, staying in the doorway.

“Miss Schnee” she bowed her head slightly as she clutched her clipboard against her chest. “There is someone waiting for you upstairs.”

Weiss straightened her back, her brows furrowing visibly, not pleased with the sudden visit.

“Who is it?” she asked, somewhat coldly.

The secretary winced slightly, and they all saw her swallow as she shifted her weight to her other leg, and cleared her throat quietly.

“It’s your father, Miss Schnee”

The smaller woman blinked, and as she waved the secretary off, telling her she was going up soon, her face twisted, a mix between annoyance and anger as she let the file she was holding fall on the desk, knocking her fist on the surface as she leaned on it.

“He thinks he’s so important he can show up anytime _he_ wants” she growled, feeling her nails biting in her palm.

She felt a large hand on her back, and she looked up to see worried lilac eyes staring at her.

“Weiss” Yang started, her voice soft. “We talked about this, remember? Just-”

“I know, Yang. ‘Just breathe’, I remember” the smaller woman grumbled, but she still took a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

As she took deep breaths, Blake stepped closer, glancing at Ruby.

“Do you want me to go with you?” the faunus asked, brushing her fingers on Weiss’s tight fist.

“I don’t-” Weiss started, interrupting her sentence almost immediately as she stared at the faunus, a shadow passing in her pale blue eyes.

She straightened her back, her eyes locked with Blake’s, and a small, wicked smile pulled her lips.

“Yeah” she breathed. “Yeah. If he’s going to piss me off, then _I’m_ going to piss him off.”

Blake frowned, not sure of what she meant, but Yang was already gripping Weiss’s wrist.

“Don’t you dare do that to her, Weiss. Blake doesn’t need you father’s racist attitude.”

Blake understood instantly.

“I still want to go with you” Blake insisted, surprising the other women. “I never really liked the man, at least from what I heard from you and the news. Pissing him off by my single presence would be… kind of satisfying.”

As Yang heaved a sigh, shaking her head, Blake winked at Weiss, and Ruby patted the faunus’s arm.

“Just… try to stay calm, okay? ‘Cause Weiss won’t” she sighed, an echo of her sister.

 

**** 

 

“What is it doing here.”

Jacques Schnee stood tall in the small, conference room. He was leaner than Blake thought, his eyes a shade lighter than Weiss’s, making them look like it was mist in his eyes.

Weiss’s eye twitched, the question not sounding like a question at all, but it was more the word he used.

“ _It_ has a name” she harshly retorted, slamming her file on the table sharply. “And _it_ is a person, _Father._ ”

His lips were pinched under his mustache, his eyes staying on his daughter, trying to ignore the tall, dark-haired faunus staring at him on Weiss’s right.

“The question still remains” he only said back, his face sharpening.

Weiss slammed her hand on the table, glaring up at her father, her mouth twisting slightly.

“Blake is one of the best scientists here, and she’s also one of my best friends. She’s here with me right now because _you_ interrupted us in our work, and I would gladly get back to it if you could go straight to the point and tell me why you barged in here without announcing yourself first” she spoke fast, but was still clear, and after the flow of words, she took a breath, and Blake could see her right fist trembling slightly beside her.

The man stared down at her, his lips still pinched, his hands folded behind his back as his shoulders looked stiff. A slight twitch in his snow white mustache told Blake he was annoyed, but he simply took a seat, crossing his fingers together on the table as Weiss and Blake sat on the other side.

“Your _friend_ gives you confidence” he said, smiling slightly at the twitch on Weiss’s face at the implication. “You never dared talk to me like that before.”

Weiss snorted, crossing her arms on her chest as she leaned back in her seat.

“I’m just really annoyed that I had to interrupt my work because my father thinks he’s so important he can show up whenever he wants” she retorted with as much venom she could muster.

His face sharpened again, and he clenched his jaw as he leaned slightly over.

“You should watch your tongue, child” he hissed, his eyes as cold as ice and staring at his daughter with repressed anger. “I am your father, not one of your pet” he added, glancing at Blake for a second before returning to Weiss.

Weiss stayed silent, staring at her father. She looked calm. Too calm, Blake thought. She knew Weiss too well. She knew that the absence of sparks was so much more terrifying than the actual yelling. Discreetly, Blake tried to take Weiss’s hand under the table, feeling it cold and hard under hers, but Weiss gently pulled away before resting them flat on the table, standing slowly as she spoke.

“Father” she started, and Blake wasn’t fooled by the smooth coolness of her voice. “This” she said, waving around her, designing the walls and the parking lot they could see through the window, meaning all the building, “is all mine. I am in charge here. It’s basically my home. You are not my superior. Here, you are under my roof. Here, you must respect me and my employees. That means her as well” Weiss touched Blake’s arm briefly. “So if you are going to disrespect her one more time, I will kick you out of here myself. Literally” she added, her hands balling into fists as she gritted her teeth, trying to keep her breathing under control.

Jacques only raised one eyebrow, glancing at the faunus with disdain for a second before looking back to his daughter.

“I think you spent too much time with it. You’re adopting its animalistic traits.”

Weiss was fuming. With a twitch at the corner of her lips she straightened her back, returning her tight fists to her sides as she was about to walk around the table, but before she could take a step, Blake gently gripped her wrist.

“Weiss.”

It was the first thing Blake said since they arrived, and she spoke softly and quietly, gaining Weiss’s attention right away. She squeezed her wrist once gently, raising her dark eyebrows as she glanced down at the chair Weiss was sitting earlier. A silent conversation.

_Sit._

The smaller woman frowned, a twitch on her lips again as she gritted her teeth.

_But I can’t let him say things like that about you._

The faunus tugged slightly at her wrist, glancing pointedly at the chair again, holding Weiss’s glare for a few seconds, angling her head slightly.

_Sit. Please._

Weiss exhaled loudly through her nose, her lips pressed in a thin, fine line as she pulled her wrist free from Blake’s hold.

“Fine” she grumbled, falling in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest.

Blake huffed quietly, patting her arm gently before crossing her arms over her chest too, returning her attention to Weiss’s father with an unreadable mask.

“You should thank her ‘animalistic traits’ for stopping me roundhouse-kicking you back to Atlas” Weiss coldly spat out. “Now will you stop wasting both of our time and tell us why you’re here?”

When Jacque realised that ‘both’ meant her and Blake, he narrowed his eyes slightly, but he didn’t say anything, this time.

“I came here to insist on the importance of turning Dust into weapons” he finally told her after a moment.

Weiss, her patience already thin, had no more for that, now. She slammed her hand on the table again, glaring at her father.

“I already told you I won’t make weapons for you!”

“The White Fang started stealing our shipments of Dust, Weiss. I won’t let it slide. Normal firearms don’t seem to affect them. We need to make it a weapon.”

“Don’t you get it?” she huffed in disbelief. “If we build Dust-filled weapons, everyone would want to use it, Father! I don’t want to be the cause of a world war!”

“We need them, Weiss. Make it happen.”

Her father’s voice was filled with authority, already pushing back his chair as if the conversation had ended, but Weiss stood, too.

“No, I won’t. I told you, we’re not making weapons” she said defiantly, holding her father’s stare.

Something passed in his eyes, but his unreadable expression didn’t let anything show. He just slightly leaned over her.

“Then I will make your life a living hell” he hissed through gritted teeth, before walking to the door.

“What’s new?” Weiss retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

He stopped in the doorway, glancing over his shoulder to glare at his daughter with pure hatred, before walking out in the hallway.

 

**** 

 

“You said _what_?” Yang asked in disbelief, looking above Blake’s shoulder at Weiss.

They were at Weiss’s place, Blake telling Ruby and Yang their ‘conversation’ with Weiss’s father as they sat at the kitchen island, Weiss pulling a short, thick glass from one cabinet, and a brand new bottle of scotch from another.

“Weiss, you’re badass!” Ruby laughed. “I didn’t think you could be this harsh with him!”

Weiss sighed deeply as she poured the amber liquid in the glass, stopping well past the middle of it, before downing almost all of it, setting the glass back on the counter with a grunt as the alcohol burned her throat.

“Why did I say that” she asked quietly to herself, her voice raspy, as she poured a more decent amount of the liquid in her glass. “Why did I have to upset him?”

As she was burying her face in her hands, she felt large hands on her shoulders, pressing gently, and she leaned back, feeling arms wrap around her as she kept her eyes closed.

“It’s alright, Weiss” Blake murmured into her ear, kissing her temple.

“No, it’s not” she almost whined, her hand wrapping around Blake’s wrist gently. “He will make my life a living hell. And yours, too.”

“But you’re his daughter” Yang countered, hearing what Weiss had said.

“That’s even worst” she breathed, her eyebrows furrowing slightly. “He doesn’t take disobedience lightly. He’s even harder on his own family, because he expect we’re perfect.”

She sighed deeply, opening her eyes, blinking, and for a moment, everyone stayed silent. Blake saw Weiss’s eyes were absent, as if she was somewhere else, her face as sharp as a knife. At the same time Blake was about to ask her what she was thinking about, she blinked, seeming to realise where she was, and she patted Blake’s arm gently before pulling away, taking her glass and leaning her elbows on the island.

“Watch your backs, alright? If anything out of the ordinary happens, tell me.”

“You really think he will go after you?” Ruby asked quietly after a moment, toying with her fingers.

Weiss sighed, taking another large gulp of her scotch, then twisted the glass on the counter a few times, making the liquid swirl in the glass.

“Absolutely” she breathed.

 

**** 

 

“Weiss?”

She was sleeping, she was sure of it. So, when someone called her name, she didn’t really cared; it’s in my dream, she thought. And so, she relaxed back into slumber with a small sigh, shifting slightly. She felt comfortable, warm, and as if a heavy blanket was laying on top of her. In other words: it was heaven.

“Weiss, wake up.”

Waking up suddenly, she opened her eyes, her eyebrows furrowed, blinking in the morning light pooling from the panoramic window. She felt the soft, velvet-like touch of one cat ear, flicking against her chin as her breath tickled it, and realised that Blake was sleeping on top of her, her head resting on her chest, Blake’s face hiding from view. She smiled softly, nuzzling the dark head right between the ears as she shifted slightly again to hold the faunus closer to her, sighing contentedly as she closed her eyes.

“Weiss. Over here.”

Her eyes opened wide. She tried looking in the corner of her eyes, using her peripheral vision, and she did see someone standing in the kitchen, leaned against the island. And she recognized that cool voice, this slightly amused tone. Slowly, she turned her head, her eyes locking with amused pale-blue ones.

“Winter. Hi” Weiss croaked, then cleared her throat, remembering how much scotch she drank the night before. And how thirsty she was. “Um… Why didn’t you knock?”

Blake shifted, sighing and mumbling in her sleep, Weiss rubbing her back slightly as she kept her attention on her sister, the older woman raising a single eyebrow at that.

“I did” Winter snorted quietly, crossing her arms over her chest. “But I also knew you never lock your door when you are home, so I took a chance, and… there you are.”

She bowed her head at her, her eyes glancing down at the black head resting on her little sister’s chest, their legs a tangled mess. At least, we’re fully clothed, Weiss though, blushing slightly as her sister’s stare came back at her.

“What time is it?” the younger sister asked.

She glanced down at Blake, still wondering how she slept through all that. She usually was the one to wake up for every single thing. But her breathing was still deep, and Weiss recognised the pattern. She was still in a deep sleep. As gently as she could, she tried to move from under Blake, feeling the faunus’s arms tightening around her slightly.

“Eight hundred” Winter answered, making Weiss pause.

“You wake me up at eight in the morning on my day off?” she grunted, wincing. “What kind of monster are you?”

The older sister laughed quietly, amused by Weiss’s attempt to get off the couch without waking up the sleeping woman. Weiss had a hard time to get up; half of her wanted to shoo Winter away and lay back with Blake, the other half really glad to see her sister for the first time since she took the job as head of the R&D, almost three years ago.

“Where are you going?” Blake mumbled, her eyes still closed as she was only half asleep, her hand finding Weiss’s and entwining their fingers.

“I didn’t mean to wake you” Weiss murmured, kissing her hand gently. “My sister is here. You can go back to sleep.”

“Your sister” Blake repeated, sighing.

And suddenly, her body shook, her eyes opening wide, her hand clutching Weiss’s.

“Your sister Winter” she blurted out, fully awake by now.

Weiss was trying to hold her down as she was quietly saying a long ‘no’ after Blake’s violent awakening. She apologised many times under her breath, telling her that she didn’t mean to wake her up, but Blake kissed her forehead gently.

“I’m still waiting” the amused voice of Winter made Weiss smile and Blake look up, and both women stood.

Weiss timidly took Blake’s hand as they walked in the kitchen, only to leave it a few seconds later after a squeeze as Weiss wrapped her arms around her sister, closing her eyes with a genuine smile when she felt the older woman hugging her back.

“I tried to call you before I arrived, but you didn’t answer” Winter said, smiling down at her sister when they pulled apart, holding her at arm’s length.

Weiss frowned slightly, her hands automatically patting her front pockets, then her back pockets, then Blake’s back pockets, until the faunus pointed in the living room, just beside the couch on the carpeted flood, Weiss’s phone lying there. As Weiss took it, she realised it was still on vibration mode, and that the carpet had muffled it.

“So” the pale-blue eyes of the older woman stopped on Blake, her eyes glancing up for a second when Blake’s ears twitched. “I don’t believe we met before.”

Blake chuckled nervously as Weiss strutted back in the kitchen, taking the faunus’s left hand to give it a squeeze.

“I don’t think so, too” Blake agreed, extending her hand before her. “I’m Blake Belladonna.”

As Winter was about to take the offered hand, she froze, her smile disappearing instantly.

“Belladonna?” she repeated, her face sharpening. “As in ‘Ghira Belladonna’?”

Instantly, Blake took a step back, tensing, remembering her training on hand-to-hand combat.

“Is it really important?” she asked, hearing her own voice tight, and she spoke fast, feeling Weiss squeeze her hand, felt her stare, but she didn’t leave Winter from her sight.

Weiss stepped in front of Blake slightly, and only at that moment she did glance down, seeing the smaller woman shield her.

“Winter-” Weiss started, but the older woman interrupted her.

“It’s not. It’s just that I met them, once” Winter answered.

“’Them’?” Blake asked, still unsure.

“Kali is a really sweet woman” Winter nodded. “General Ironwood and I went to Menagerie when the White Fang activity leaded back there, and the Chieftain wanted a meeting. Then his wife convinced us to stay for dinner.”

Blake relaxed, laughing quietly as she glanced down, her ears drooping.

“How long ago?” the faunus asked quietly, avoiding Weiss’s eyes when she turned around.

“About five years ago, maybe six” the older woman remembered, her eyebrows furrowing. “I still think she was trying to impress me. She knew my name” she shrugged slightly. “But she was really kind. They both talked about their daughter” she said casually, watching the faunus’s reaction like a hawk, and the ears drooping even more gave her the answer. “They never spoke her name, though. They talked about her as if she was dead.”

Weiss saw Blake put on her unreadable mask, the emotionless face she wore often around her at first, and she still hated to see that mask on her face. Blake glanced up at Weiss’s sister, bowing her head slightly to her.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Winter. But I’m still feeling kind of tired, so if you both don’t mind, I’ll go rest.”

She bowed her head again at Winter, stepping back, and tried a smile at Weiss, spinning on her heels when she felt her mask crack. She was starting to walk in the hallway when she heard Winter’s voice call out to her, and she turned slightly, looking over her shoulder.

“You look like your mother when you smile” Winter said as a small smile pulled her lips, bowing her head slightly to her.

Blake felt her eyes filling with tears, her mask cracking in a million pieces as she nodded, murmuring a small ‘thank you’ loud enough that they could hear, before quickly reaching Weiss’s bedroom, closing the door behind her.

 

**** 

 

“Did you know about her parents?” Winter asked as they walked down the path, the tall trees boarding each side of it losing their leaves, crimson red.

“No” Weiss conceded. “She never talked about them. Well, she talked about her father once, but… I though they died, or something.”

They were walking in a nearby park, wandering along the numerous paths. Weiss had asked Blake if she wanted to come along, but she refused, saying that she had to swing back to her apartment and then to the R&D. So, it was only the two of them.

“She never really talks about Menagerie, too” Weiss added.

Winter hummed, staying silent for a moment as they walked lazily. She was just glad to spend some time with her sister.

“How long have you been together?” she asked, glancing down at her.

Weiss smiled, shoving her hands in her pockets.

“Almost a year.”

“Hum. And how much do you know about her?”

“I know enough, Winter” Weiss gently elbowed her sister. “She told me the essential. I don’t need to know the things she doesn’t want to share.”

Winter huffed, elbowing back her sister as she smiled.

“You almost sound like a saint” she joked, winking.

“I am not” Weiss laughed.

They continued walking in silence, a smile still on their lips. The weather was good, and they were both in a light jacket, the nice breeze keeping them outside. But before long, Weiss heaved a sigh, glancing up at her sister.

“Why are you here, Winter? I wish I could believe you just wanted to see me, but…” she trailed off, not really wanting to finish her sentence.

Winter glanced down, pinching her lips for a second.

“I’m sorry, Weiss. Father wanted me to check up on you. He said you acted weird yesterday. But honestly, who cares except him? Now, I have all today and tomorrow to spend with you.”

“Don’t tell him about Blake?” Weiss instantly demanded, looking up at her with a worried frown.

But her sister only slapped her behind the head like she always did, with a small smile on her lips.

“Of course not, you boob. Who do you think I am? I’m not a snitch” she smiled as Weiss winced, rubbing the back of her head. “But Father did tell me something that surprised me: he said you threatened him to kick him back to Atlas?”

The younger woman grimaced, shoving her hand back into her pocket.

“He kept insulting Blake, and I couldn’t take it. She stopped me when I was actually going to take him outside. He should be thankful she was there” she added with a quiet laugh.

Winter laughed, letting her imagination run wild as the images of her sister kicking their father flashed before her eyes. Weiss smiled too, and when Winter’s laughter died down, the older woman linked her arm with Weiss’s, smiling when she glanced up.

“I missed you, little sister” she said softly. “You always were a handful. I missed that.”

Weiss snorted, rolling her eyes.

“Speaking of handful, do you have any news about Whitley?”

The older woman made a surprised noise, furrowing her brows slightly.

“I didn’t know you cared.”

“Of course I do!” Weiss objected, before biting her lip slightly. “… On some level. He’s still our little brother. And he’s alone at the mansion with Mother and Father. Everything could go wrong” she sighed, her eyes cast down.

Winter nodded, humming.

“I understand what you mean. Unfortunately, I don’t have any news. My last visit to the mansion goes years back. If you want to catch up with him, you should call.”

The younger woman winced slightly, but said nothing. They continued walking silently, rounding a corner and starting back, when Winter sighed, catching Weiss’s attention.

“I really don’t like this, Weiss. Father was furious about your actions yesterday. You know he doesn’t leave threats in the air. He will act.”

“Oh, trust me, I know” Weiss snorted bitterly, and Winter couldn’t help herself as she quickly glanced at her sister’s scar. “And I know, too, that except if he decides to shoot me, I’ll survive everything he’ll send me.”

“This isn’t funny, Weiss” Winter remarked, frowning.

“I’m not trying to be funny, Winter. I know what he’s capable of” she trailed off, keeping her face straight ahead, her features hardening.

Winter stopped, pulling Weiss with her to a stop, and took both her hands in hers.

“Why do you always have to fight him? Can’t you just do what he asks?”

“I can’t!”

Her voice echoed against the trees, the deserted path sending back her voice. Weiss bit her lip, closing her eyes for a second.

“I’m sorry I shouted” she spoke quietly as she opened her eyes, keeping them cast downward. “But” she sighed, then swallowed. “I can’t give in to Father. Not this time.”

“Why not?” Winter asked, squeezing her sister’s hands gently.

“Because he wants me to build weapons” Weiss finally spat out. “With the Dust. Do you have the slightest idea how it could _only_ go wrong with that in his hands? He’s greedy. He will always want more. More money, more power. He’s already at the top, but I know he wants more. He’s only using the White Fang as an excuse to have those weapons. And once the problem of the White Fang is done, what would happen?”

Winter furrowed her brows, opening her mouth to answer but Weiss interrupted her.

“He would A: sell them to the highest bidder, which is really not a good idea, or B: sell it to the military, which isn’t much better. No offense” she quickly added. “And since he is ‘giving’ this firepower, the people who brought them would be entitled to do as Father will. Just look how Ironwood is in Father’s pocket” Weiss pointed out, and Winter couldn’t do much but agree with her. “And then, what do you think will happen?”

“Nothing good” the older woman mumbled.

“Nothing good” Weiss repeated, nodding as she sighed.

Winter looked at her for a moment, realising how Weiss had grown. Weiss and Winter were almost a decade apart, and Winter had always seen her little sister as that: a little girl, a child. Even when Weiss graduated from Beacon. Even when Weiss took the job on the scientific wing of the company. And now, Weiss trying to save the world in her own way.

She wasn’t a child, anymore.

The older woman looked at her scar, the rosy line descending across her left eyes to her cheekbone, and realised that the day Weiss got it was probably the day Weiss stopped being a child.

Gently, she pulled the smaller woman into her arms, hugging her little sister close as she nuzzled in ivory tresses, and she felt Weiss hug her back.

“Be careful, then.”

“Don’t worry, I will” Weiss breathed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy, after a hundred years, I'll finally post that chapter that's been sitting around for months. God, I just completely forgot about this. But I'm getting back into this fic, now that I finished my other one.
> 
> Really, really sorry for the wait. Here goes!

“So you are the incredible Winter, huh?”

Yang’s teasing tone made Weiss roll her eyes in sync with Ruby, while Blake sighed and Winter raised her eyebrows, surprised.

“I don’t think I’m incredible. Never said I was, too” the older woman frowned, staring at Weiss as her little sister hid her eyes behind her hand.

“Look, I was a kid and you were in the military. I was easily impressionable, and it kind of stayed.”

Winter laughed, and Weiss glared at Yang, who pulled her tongue to her. It was Winter’s last day off, and Weiss wanted to introduce her friends to her before she left, not knowing when she would see her again. And so, team RWBY and Winter were at Weiss’s place, Yang had insisted to cook something instead of going out for tonight, and they all agreed.

And there they were, gathered around the kitchen island as Yang prepared the food. The blonde was kind of territorial when she cooked, seemingly not capable to delegate the smaller things to the others, and every time Weiss tried and sneaked on the other side of the island to help, she was shooed away.

Surprisingly, Ruby was the one who talked the most with Winter. The young engineer asked her about the military life, then they talked about weapons for a long time, Blake joining them. Weiss only listened, amazed by Ruby’s knowledge on weaponry; then again, she did made sketches of a scythe-sniper. Soon after that thought, as if Ruby read her mind, she pulled out her phone and tapped on the screen a few times, before showing the pictures she took of the sketches to Winter and Blake, both of them making the same dumbfounded expression, but as the young engineer explained, pointing and widening the pictures to show details, the two of them nodding with interest.

Weiss was only happy. Everybody seemed to have a good time, even Yang. But then again, Yang always had a good time, if not, she would manage to. She was just content to listen to the conversation as she looked over the pans. But when the blonde started to look overwhelmed, Weiss stepped on the other side of the island.

“I want to help.”

“Nah, go on with them, I’m alri-”

“Yang, I want to help” she said again with a little more force, setting her jaw in a way Yang knew she wasn’t going to do otherwise.

The blonde sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Fine” she finally grumbled.

The smaller woman stepped forward, smiling smugly at her victory, as small as it was. But then, as she got closer to Yang, she brushed her fingers on the blonde’s arm to catch her attention.

“I don’t understand a word they’re saying, please talk to me” she whispered, hoping that Blake couldn’t hear as Yang laughed.

There wasn’t much to do, now. They kept a watchful eye on everything as it slowly cooked, and suddenly, Weiss made a noise, surprising Yang, but she only opened the cabinet on the far end of the kitchen, where she kept her alcohol. After a few seconds of searching through the bottles, Weiss exclaimed a victorious ‘Aha!’ before pulling out a bottle of bourbon, raising a single eyebrow at the blonde with a small smile. Yang was already taking out two glasses and set them on the counter for Weiss.

“No scotch today?” Yang teased, leaning on the counter as she watched Weiss pour the alcohol.

“I know you prefer bourbon” Weiss simply answered, smiling as she gave Yang a glass.

“Alright, then. Cheers!”

“Cheers.”

Weiss smiled, and their glasses met with a small ‘Click!’ before they both took a sip. Yang hummed, nodding as she closed her eyes.

“You always have the best stuff. You should have a bar in your living room.”

“A bar only you and me would use, I’m afraid. Blake only drinks wine, and if nothing has change, Ruby only drinks milk.”

She smiled in her glass when Yang laughed.

“Besides, I basically have one” she said, pointing the cabinet at the far end. “It’s all stashed there. Except the wine. That goes in my cellar, of course.”

“Because everyone can have a cellar in their apartment” Yang snorted, rolling her eyes.

“You have access to the cellar _and_ the cabinet, must I remind you” Weiss retorted, glancing away, her chin tilted higher. “Stop whining.”

Weiss winked at the blonde and she laughed quietly, smiling. Her pale-blue eyes drifted then, returning to the island were the three other women talked animatedly, Ruby being the most talkative, waving her hands and all. She looked at Blake, seeing her relaxed, her ears perked towards Ruby in utmost interest, her golden eyes captivating in the light. And not three seconds after, the faunus felt her stare, and glanced to her, their eyes locking. A small smile pulled Blake’s lips and she winked, making Weiss smile. As they held each other’s stare, Weiss nearly jumped when Yang’s voice was practically in her ear.

“Ew, guys, get a room” the blonde whispered as she leaned to Weiss, looking at Blake with a playful grin.

Weiss rolled her eyes as she elbowed her and Blake laughed quietly.

 

****

 

Winter had stayed as long as she could, didn’t want to leave until the last minute, but she couldn’t miss her flight back to Atlas. And so, in the evening after dinner, she said her goodbyes, hugging Weiss close one last time before she left, murmuring in her ear that she was glad Weiss had such good friends. After one last gentle tap under her chin, a wink, and ‘don’t do anything stupid again, you boob’, she left.

Weiss went to the living room, bringing her bottle of scotch this time with her glass and slouched in the couch, soon followed by the others. Yang had brought with her the bottle of bourbon; she was just glad she wouldn’t be the only one to drink. As they set up a movie, Ruby said her goodbyes; she had to wake up early the next day. She and Yang had come with their own vehicles, Ruby’s red mini-cooper parked in the street just in front of Weiss’s place. And at the pace Yang was downing the bottle, she wasn’t leaving for tonight.

It was kind of odd, after Ruby took her leave. Weiss sat between Blake and Yang, the three of them shoulders to shoulders. But they just relaxed, commenting and telling jokes about the movie, and at some point in Weiss and Yang’s drunken attention, they stopped talking towards the end, and when the credits started to roll, Weiss noticed that Blake had fell asleep. As Yang stood and stretched, Weiss gently nuzzled between two cat ears, rousing the faunus gently, only to whisper to her to go sleep in the bed. Blake nodded, quickly kissed Weiss before wincing slightly at her alcohol-filled breath, waving to Yang before starting towards the hallway. Weiss was about to tell Yang she could use the guest room when she saw the blonde walk to the kitchen, and take her jacket.

“What are you doing?” Weiss asked, frowning as she crossed her arms.

The blonde paused, glancing at her, confused.

“Um… I’m going home?” she asked, still frozen in her movement.

“No, you’re not. You are going to take the guest room for tonight.”

“Weiss, I’m fine” the blonde argued, only one arm in her jacket’s sleeve but not moving to slip the other arm on.

“No, you’re not. Your keys, please.”

Weiss extended her hand, palm up, waiting. She hoped Yang wouldn’t be too difficult, feeling her eyelids heavy and her legs weak. And when she heard the grunt of the blonde, she knew the blonde wouldn’t fight hard, too.

“Fine” Yang muttered, letting her keys fall in Weiss’s hand with a deep sigh.

As she put her jacket back on the hook, Weiss let the blonde’s keys fall in the bowl next to the door where her own and Blake’s keys were, and she waved to Yang to follow her, even if she knew the blonde already knew the way. It was in the opposite direction from Weiss’s room, at the end of the hallway, right beside the bathroom.

“You know where the extra blankets are, in case you’re too cold, but I honestly don’t think it’s possible” Weiss said as Yang entered the room, the blonde already sitting on the edge of the bed with a sigh.

Yang snorted, a large smile pulling her lips, and she stood, walking back to Weiss, who leaned her shoulder against the doorframe.

“If I’m too cold, can I sleep with you guys?” she asked with a small grin, winking.

But when Weiss’s face changed, hardening, she raised her hands up.

“I’m joking, I’m joking, sorry” she apologised, not looking sorry at all.

Weiss narrowed her eyes at her, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Don’t start, Yang. I’m really not in the mood.”

“Would it be better if Blake was here?”

Weiss stared at her for a second as she frowned.

“What’s with you? No! Come on, Yang, it was a great night, don’t-”

“Sorry, I just can’t help remembering what we did here, on that bed” she interrupted as she brushed her fingers on the covers. “And there” she pointed the opposite wall, behind Weiss’s poisonous glare. “And, well… Almost everywhere.”

Weiss’s eye twitched as she gritted her teeth, staring at Yang with a scowl on her face. But she said nothing. She just followed Yang with her eyes as the blonde walked in the room, stumbling slightly.

“What do you want me to say, Yang?” Weiss finally asked, quietly, after a few minutes. “What do you want me to do?”

Yang stood still for a few seconds, her eyes cast down, as if she was trying to think.

“I don’t know why I said that” she finally answered. “I’m sorry, I’m drunk-”

“Oh, so _now_ you’re drunk” Weiss interrupted vehemently, stepping in the room. “Isn’t it odd how you weren’t drunk five minutes ago, when you were about to take your bike?”

“Weiss-” Yang sighed, her shoulder slouching.

“Don’t ‘Weiss’ me” she warned. “You’re still able to tell me why you said that. What was the point, Yang? Because it’s really not funny.”

Yang looked everywhere except at her, trying to escape those pale-blue eyes that were staring in a cold glare.

“I… I guess I wanted to upset you-”

“Well, congratulation; it worked. Then what?” Weiss pressed.

“I-I don’t know-”

“Think, Yang. I know there’s a brain in that thick head of yours. ‘I don’t know’ is not the right answer” Weiss interrupted again, her fingers drumming on her arm as she grew impatient.

Yang gritted her teeth, her hands balling into fists, but she still did what Weiss said. And after a few seconds, she relaxed slightly.

“I think… I think I’m lonely.”

The blonde’s voice was quiet and low, and seemed as surprised as Weiss about her confession. Weiss relaxed, her scowl melting into a worried frown.

“You think you’re lonely?”

The blonde nodded, her hands relaxing as she sighed.

“I know I’ve got Ruby” she started. “I’ve got you and Blake too, but it’s… it’s a different kind of loneliness.”

“Then why did you want to make me upset?”

Yang sat at the edge of the bed, still racking her brain.

“I’m sorry, Weiss” Yang murmured, her palm rubbing up and down her own thigh, something Weiss knew was her way to calm down.

Weiss tapped twice on her arm with her finger as she stood in front of Yang, before turning on her heels and sit beside Yang on the bed.

“Why are you sorry for?” she sighed, determined to see the end of it despite her exhaustion.

“I guess I’m jealous.”

“Of what?”

“Of you” Yang straightened her head, locking her eyes with Weiss as she smiled sadly. “You have what I’m craving. You have what I once had with you.”

“Yang…” the smaller woman trailed off, not really knowing what to say.

“I know, okay, I know. It’s dumb. I don’t expect you to come back to me, or anything, okay? I know you love Blake and she loves you back, and gosh darn you two are cute together” Yang added, the use of Ruby’s favorite saying told Weiss the blonde was honest. “But, you know, that’s just it. The stares. The silent conversations. You or her touching the other when you talk, and, well, everything you do just reminds me, and I…”

She sighed, throwing her hands in the air and let them fall back on her lap helplessly.

“I’m just there, with my hands itching to touch someone when I have no one to touch. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

She looked unsure about what she just said, and her worried lilac eyes glanced up to see Weiss nodding.

“Do you… Do you still have feelings for me?” she asked quietly, hesitantly.

The blonde sighed as her brows furrowed, silent for a few seconds, and she shrugged slightly.

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. I mean, it’s been a while… I’m just… I don’t know. It’s dumb, I guess.”

“Have you been with someone after me?” Weiss asked, her brows slightly furrowed.

Yang shrugged one shoulder, rubbing her thigh again.

“No.”

“Maybe you should? I mean, not the ‘being with someone’ part, but maybe try to meet new people? You are a social butterfly, Yang, I’ve never seen someone more at ease in a crowd than you. Maybe that will help? And maybe, you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

The blonde looked at her. Weiss was sitting beside her, massaging her left hand absently, her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at the floor.

“I don’t know if it will really help. I’m just glad Blake was there when I decided I wanted to meet new people” she sighed, pulling on one finger until it cracked. “I don’t think advice from me will be really helpful.”

“Well, maybe it’s going to be the same for me, too” Yang murmured as she gently took Weiss’s right hand, massaging it for a moment.

The smaller woman sighed, Yang’s fingers working quickly, already knowing Weiss’s hand by heart.

“Maybe” Weiss murmured back, looking down at her hand, caught between Yang’s.

She remembered how Yang always liked her hands. The blonde always said that Weiss’s hands were far too small to be really useful, or strong, but was still amazed by the strength of them, or how they could work quickly and confidently. She liked to hold them in her big, rough ones, saying that she had the hands of royalty, always so soft, with no calluses.

It was with no surprise from Weiss that Yang brought her small hand to her lips, kissing her palm tenderly. Weiss let her as she leaned her cheek in her hand, sighing, caressing the soft knuckles with her rough thumb. After a few seconds, Weiss thumbed the blonde’s cheekbone gently, and the taller woman closed her eyes for a moment.

“Goodnight, Yang” Weiss murmured, sliding her thumb one last time on her cheek, already feeling Yang pull away.

The blonde nodded almost guiltily, squeezing her hand one last time before letting go, smiling slightly at Weiss.

“Goodnight, Weiss” she murmured back.

 

**** 

 

When Weiss finally entered her bedroom, closing the door behind her, she leaned her back to it. She could see in the room, her eyes used to the darkness, Blake’s form in the bed, and she could hear her deep breathing. But she stayed there, her right hand clutched to her chest, still feeling Yang’s lips on her palm.

It felt like a lover’s last kiss. Weiss was carrying her hand as if it was weighted down, weighted by the meaning of that kiss, and not knowing if she had to just shrug and go to bed or if she had to wash it. For someone who wanted to keep things simple, she thought that she didn’t really make her task easy.

With a grunt, she went to the connected bathroom, washing her hands quickly.

“This is stupide, I hope you realise that” she muttered to herself.

And she went back to the bedroom, undressed and slipped under the covers, already feeling Blake’s warmth, wrapped in her scent, and as she snuggled closer, she felt right again. In her sleep, the faunus wrapped her arms around her, pulling her closer as she mumbled against the back of her neck, and Weiss sighed, content. She closed her eyes, feeling herself already falling asleep, in a cocoon of warmth. Everything was right, and fine, except for the ghost of a kiss that still lingered on Weiss’s right hand.

 

**** 

 

It only took three days before unusual things started to happen. Like, for the entire six years she had the same number, she started to receive calls. When it first happened, and she didn’t recognise the number, she just didn’t answer, and they left no message. Then, the same number called again, later that day when she was in a meeting. But they still didn’t left any message. They called again the day after, then on the evening.

The number appeared on her phone at least three times a day, now. And when it started ringing in the middle of the night, waking both her and Blake, she refused the call as she gritted her teeth. But when the vibration of the persistent phone woke them in the night three days in a row, she finally took it, snarling as she noticed it was four in the morning.

“What?” she barked. “Can’t you see it’s the middle of the night and people are trying to sleep?”

There was a silence, as if the person on the other side of the line was surprised that she finally took the call. Then, she heard a laugh. It sounded like a quacking.

“Your father sends his regards” said a short voice, before the person hung up.

She felt her eye twitch as she squeezed her phone in her hand, gritting her teeth. How petty of him, she thought. Then again, he wanted to annoy her.

She was kind of mad about how well it worked.

After that, the mysterious number never called again. But it was soon replaced by another annoying thing, such as someone deflating her car’s tires. When she noticed the first time, she asked Yang, knowing the blonde had always a tire compressor nearby, for her bike. But when it happened again the next day, she knew right away. She tried looking at the tape of the surveillance cameras, but Weiss’s car was conveniently right out of their range. So she parked her car elsewhere, a place she knew the cameras would caught it, but unfortunately, the camera broke down mysteriously, and the tape was unfortunately unreadable. She even went as far as letting her car parked in front of Blake’s place, and when she went to get it the next day, the tires were flat again.

And it was one thing after the other, escalating slowly in gravity, until it reached the point of no-return.

She just went home from an awfully long and tiring day, falling on her couch with a deep sigh. Blake went to train with Yang, and Weiss excused herself to Ruby, knowing it was their ‘Crescent Rose’ project time, but as it was nearly finished, Ruby only had to tweak on it, and Weiss’s presence wasn’t needed, so she took the opportunity for a small, well-deserved alone time.

She shifted to lie on the couch, resting an arm over her eyes. She relaxed slowly, alone in the silence, the tic-toc of the clock hung on the wall the only noise filling the apartment. It was hypnotic. She counted the seconds, wondering why she did. As she frowned, she made a list of things she liked to do, like that, counting the seconds for fun. And with a small huff, she added ‘making lists’ on her list.

“Hey there, old friend” she murmured to herself.

She must have fall asleep at some point, because when her phone started vibrating furiously in her pocket, she jumped, startled. She relaxed slightly when she saw Blake’s name on the screen, and tapped on it to accept the call.

“Hi, Blake” she mumbled, trying to stifle a yawn as she leaned back in the couch.

“Did you watched the news?” Blake asked, her voice tight and sharp.

Weiss raised her eyebrows, surprised by Blake’s lack of salutation.

“Um… No?”

“Then you should. Right now.”

Furrowing her brows, she leaned over, taking the remote and pressing the buttons to open the TV.

“Why, what’s wrong?” she asked, now worrying.

“You’ll know soon enough” was Blake’s only answer.

As soon as the screen was opened, she flicked it to the news, and what she saw made her growl. On a large, red band at the base of the screen were the same words, looping over and over again.

_Schnee Dust Company, developing Dust weapons? The head of the company, Jacques Schnee, held a press-conference this afternoon for this big announcement. He referred his daughter, Weiss Schnee, head of the scientific wing of the company, for further information in future press-conferences._

“Son of a bitch.”

Weiss didn’t even recognise her own voice, so low and hateful, and she knew at that moment, that after the two months of perpetual annoyance he did to her, now, she was going to break something.

“I’m going home, alright? I’ll be there soon” she heard Blake say, and Weiss didn’t even bother answering something as she tapped on the screen to end the call.

At that moment, there was a picture of her father, that some journalist took from the press-conference earlier that day, and he looked right in the camera, a small, victorious smile pulling his lips. Just for her, she thought as she gritted her teeth painfully. She couldn’t even hear what the woman was saying; she just looked at the picture, at her father, who looked right back defiantly.

And as she looked at it, she could hear him laughing at her expense. And without thinking, she threw the remote at the TV with all her might.

“Shut up!” she yelled as the rectangle plastic box hit the screen and sank in it.

There were sparks as the screen took multiple colors, cracking like glass, and a small line of smoke went up, the sound finally dying down. She was trying to control her breathing, trying to control her impulsiveness, trying to contain herself as she wanted to destroy _everything_ in her apartment. She buried her face in her hands, then slid her hands in her hair, her elbows planted on her knees, letting her head hang as she closed her eyes. Calming her breathing. Counting the seconds again.

She heard the door swing open. And as she heard quick footsteps walking in the living room, stopping abruptly, she didn’t move. Whatever Blake wanted to say about the TV, it apparently would wait later, and Weiss thanked the skies for that woman. She felt the faunus sit beside her silently, and when she felt her hand on her back, her touch light, she instantly tightened her fists in her hair and tensed.

“Don’t touch me” Weiss murmured, knowing that Blake would hear.

And the hand on her back left right after, feeling the faunus shift on the couch, to better look at her, probably.

“Are you alright?” she asked softly, quietly.

“No” Weiss immediately answered, her voice even.

And so, Blake stayed silent. Weiss felt her lean back in the couch and shift closer; not enough to actually touch her, but enough to make Weiss remember she wasn’t alone. She didn’t know how long they stayed like this. At some point, Blake stood and went to fetch a book, returning beside her soon after, and Weiss knew that the faunus would put it away if she wanted to talk. But she didn’t. And so, Blake waited.

Later, Weiss’s phone started to vibrate again, and Weiss stared at the device slowly moving on the table in front of her, Winter’s name flashing on the screen. But she didn’t pick it up. When the screen had gone dark, Weiss thought she would just leave a message. But five seconds after, the phone buzzed again, Winter’s name still flashing, and Weiss still not moving. When the device buzzed a third time, Winter’s name persistently flashing on the screen, Weiss huffed angrily.

“Could you take it?” she asked Blake without moving from her spot.

She heard the flat noise of the book closing, and saw Blake’s arm reach for the phone as the faunus stood, answering the call, and walked to the kitchen. She didn’t try to hear the conversation, already knowing that her sister saw the news. After a few minutes, Blake walked back, and sat beside Weiss again.

“She asked for you to call her when you can” Blake reported quietly as she set the phone back on the table. “She also said that she loves you.”

Weiss nodded, thanking her quietly. With a deep sigh, she let her hands fall from her hair as she straightened her head, looking at the busted TV.

“What am I going to do now, Blake? Giving in to my father, giving him the satisfaction that he can always get what he wants, which would end in a disaster in the long run, or I call him a liar live on TV, destroying both our reputations _and_ the company’s, and that can only end in a disaster, too.”

She leaned back on the couch, still staring at the TV, and she could feel Blake’s stare on her. They stayed silent for a minute.

“Do you like Vacuo?” Weiss asked suddenly.

Blake blinked as she raised her eyebrows.

“I don’t know. I’ve never been there.”

Weiss hummed, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.

“It’s sunny all the time and there are plenty of gorgeous beaches. And plenty of seafood, too” she added, hearing the faunus huff quietly.

She sighed again, this time her hand reaching blindly, and she wrapped her index finger with Blake’s pinky.

“I have a cottage there. On a private beach. A stunning place, really. And it’s mine, and not the family’s” she added. “We could go there. I could retire right now and live with luxury for the rest of my life, and even my grand-children would have enough money to live by. So how about that, Blake” she whispered as she lolled her head to the side, looking at the faunus. “We could live there. Just the two of us. We could read all day on the porch, and you could laugh at me because I easily get sunburned. We could eat seafood every day, with that wine you like. We could swim in the ocean naked, then have sex on the beach without a care in the world” she finished with a small smile, making Blake laugh quietly.

“Can you even do nothing all day?” the faunus joked, taking her hand as their fingers entwined, Blake thumbing her knuckles.

“I could do nothing with you all day long” Weiss assured, her smile growing.

Blake smiled as she glanced down at their hands, squeezing slightly.

“I could tell you how much I love you every night as we lay on the beach, looking at the stars.”

“You are such a hopeless romantic” Weiss laughed quietly, leaning in to rest her head on Blake’s shoulder, feeling the faunus kiss her head.

She nuzzled her neck for a moment, thinking about what their lives could be in Vacuo.

“We would be living the dream, huh?” she murmured, hearing Blake hum in her ear.

After a few seconds of a little more thinking, she sighed.

“But…” she trailed of, quietly.

“There’s always a ‘but’” Blake sighed too, shifting slightly to better look at her.

“But if I retire, Father will replace me with someone already in his pocket” she continued. “Eventually, those weapons -and their repercussion- will reach Vacuo.”

“And we don’t want that to happen” Blake finished for her.

“Yeah.”

They stayed silent for a moment, Weiss snuggling closer to Blake’s side. The faunus shifted, wrapping an arm around Weiss’s frail shoulders to hug her gently, feeling her small frame relax entirely as the minutes went by. Weiss counted Blake’s heartbeat, now.

“That’s a shame, really” she murmured. “I would have liked that. I could get used to that.”

Blake hummed, tilting her head on the side with a one-sided smile.

“It’s alright. I don’t really like swimming.”

Weiss snorted as she smiled, hearing Blake laugh quietly as she nuzzled her neck again. She felt Blake’s fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp gently, and she closed her eyes.

“Can I ask you something?” Blake asked, scratching just behind her ear lightly.

Weiss hummed as she nodded, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.

“What happened with the TV?”

Her voice was amused, and Weiss grunted as she remembered.

“A picture of Father happened.”

“I see” Blake nodded, her fingers now massaging Weiss’s neck.

A silence fell on them again, Weiss enjoying Blake’s touch for a moment longer, before she gently pulled away and straightened her back.

“I have calls to make. I have at least two words I want to say to my father” Weiss announced, taking her phone as she stood, a decided look on her face.

She took a step towards the kitchen, then paused, glancing at Blake.

“If you could go anywhere, where would you go?” Weiss asked.

Blake smiled a sad smile, looking up at Weiss.

“Menagerie” the faunus murmured.

At what Weiss raised her eyebrows.

“Of all the places you could go, you would go there?”

The faunus nodded silently, glancing down to look outside at the city and Weiss could see the mixed emotions passing on Blake’s face.

“I wish I could take you there. I wish I could show you all my favorite spots. I wish… I wish you could meet my parents.”

The smaller woman paused, then sat beside her, her phone still in her hand, and the other resting gently on Blake’s thigh.

“You still can, Blake” Weiss said softly. “There’s nothing stopping you to go back… right?”

After Blake’s first mention of the White Fang and Menagerie, the faunus barely talked about it. She knew now that Blake had been a high-profile member, but not what role she had, exactly. But Blake did explain what the White Fang was, or, what it used to be.

The faunus sighed, running a hand through her hair.

“People might recognise me, Weiss. I won’t risk your wellbeing for that. And, well… my parents think I’m dead.”

She said it out loud for the first time, and Weiss noticed the slight wince Blake made.

“I never got the chance to apologise to my dad” she continued softly. “I wanted to apologise for staying with the White Fang even after he told me not to” her voice was distant, now.

The smaller woman squeezed her thigh slightly, trying to get her attention back.

“What would you do if you see them again?”

“That’s a big ‘if’, Weiss” Blake remarked quietly.

“Humor me?”

The faunus huffed, a slight smile on her lips, but she still thought about it, her dark brows furrowing, creating a wrinkle between them.

“I don’t know” she finally answered. “It’s either I’m going to cry, or I’m going to run.”

“Why would you run?” Weiss asked, surprised.

The faunus shrugged with a deep sigh, gently taking Weiss’s hand.

“That’s what I do when I’m scared. I run.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this is when shit starts to get real.
> 
> There's your warning!

For three days straight after the news, journalists kept coming at the R&D building to try and catch Weiss, to ask her about the date of the press conference or more information on the matter, but they all turned tail empty handed. And one day, one impudent journalist waited at Weiss’s penthouse building, catching her off guard as she was taking the elevator to her apartment, only to be practically kicked out of the building by Weiss herself.

The team decided that it was probably better to never leave Weiss alone for the time being, at least until the press conference. The head of R&D had called Winter before calling her father; it was better that way. The faith of Weiss’s phone nearly took the same turn as the TV and it’s remote after their ‘conversation’.

The team had settled the press conference to be held three weeks from now, the date now official as all the journalists finally stopped trying to reach Weiss to get that information out of her. They had also decided that Weiss would deny what her father had claimed, instead presenting the team’s project and _hoping_ it would catch people’s attention instead of the weapons. Until then, all they had to do was cross their fingers, and keep working on the arm.

But still, Weiss grew irascible as the days went on, the stress of what she was about to do weighting her, and she kept writing down things she could say for her speech, trying to find the right words, the right way to not make this an absolute mess like she kept saying. And as always, as a perfectionist, Weiss wanted her speech to be perfect, and nothing less.

The team tried to help her in any way they could; with the speech, with her work, or just trying to take her mind of things, and Weiss couldn’t thank the sky enough for her friends.

And so, only a few days before the press conference, Weiss looked so stressed out that the team often find her stopped in the middle of the hallway, as if she was in the middle of an internal crisis, so Yang decided to change her mind.

“Come on” the blonde softly breathed, wrapping her arm around her frail shoulders as Weiss slightly jump, startled out of her thoughts.

“Where are we going?” she asked as the blonde led her down the hallway, furrowing her brows deeply.

“I thought about it, and maybe you could let out some things. So I prepared something, just for you.”

Weiss gave her a sidelong glance but stayed silent, too exhausted to think of something to say and let Yang lead her to the testing grounds, noticing one of the cubicles filled with furniture, from chairs to desks, and when the blonde stopped in front of it, she looked up, confused.

“You want me to isolate myself?” Weiss asked, raising a single eyebrow.

“Oh, no” Yang smiled widely. “What I have in mind is a lot more physical.”

And the blonde leaned over, taking a thick jumpsuit from under one of the chairs inside the cubicle, then went to her desk and pulled out a helmet from under it, then protective glasses and a pair of gloves from a drawer, giving it to a dumbstruck Weiss.

“Put this on” Yang insisted as she walked out in the hallway. “I’ll be back with the final piece.”

And the blonde disappeared before Weiss could say anything, and she sighed, looking down at the things in her hands, and after a moment she shrugged. When Yang came back, holding a baseball bat in her hand, she stopped at the door as she saw Weiss dressed up, putting on the gloves after clicking the helmet under her chin.

“You know, I really could get used to you, listening to me” she chuckled quietly.

Weiss chose to ignore the comment as she rested her gloved hands on her hips, holding the thick, plastic glasses in one hand, huffing.

“Now what am I supposed to do?” she asked, and her blue eyes glanced down at what Yang was carried, her eyebrows furrowing. “How did you bring a baseball bat inside the building?”

“Well, when you told us about the journalist that went at your apartment, I kinda freaked out” the blonde admitted with a small smile as she rubbed the back of her neck, before pushing it in Weiss’s hands. “Now, you get in that room and you have some fun.”

Weiss’s blue eyes stared at her for a few seconds, then glanced down at the bat, before looking up again, narrowing her eyes.

“You expect me to smash things?” she asked, just to be sure. “That’s the thing you prepared?”

“Yeah! I do it too, sometimes! It’s really relaxing, you’ll see.”

And she pushed the smaller woman inside, closing the glass door behind her as Weiss turned around, moving her arms helplessly on her sides.

“Just think of your stress and anger, and then smash!” Yang told her through the glass, talking loudly for Weiss to hear.

She saw blue eyes roll, and when the blonde mimed glasses in front of her eyes, Weiss put them on with a deep sigh as she turned around, taking in the room. Yang stepped back a few paces, sitting on the edge of the desk as Weiss timidly pushed a chair with her foot. It took her a moment to really be comfortable with her surroundings, but after a few minutes, Yang could see Weiss heave a deep sigh, the smaller woman turning on her heels to look at her.

“I don’t think I can do it” she said to her, loud enough so the blonde could hear.

“You bashed your TV with a remote, Weiss” Yang reminded her in the same way, seeing Weiss’s face hardening. “Just think about it. Think about your father, that’s it!” the blonde perked up at that, thinking her idea was great. “Think about all he’s putting you through, then smash!”

The smaller woman stared at her for a second, and Yang could see she was thinking about it. Suddenly, Weiss spun on her heels as she brought the baseball bat above her head, then let it fall with all her force on the chair she had pushed a few minutes before, making it break in several pieces, splinted wood flying all over. The blonde raised her eyebrows high on her forehead, surprised that Weiss’s response was immediate, and when the smaller woman crashed another chair in one swing, Yang started cheering and whooping at every swing Weiss took.

It took maybe half an hour until Weiss stopped, the baseball bat long gone now, for all the furniture was already destroyed, but she just kept throwing bits and sticks, stomping and kicking, until she didn’t have the energy to do so anymore. She stood there, in the middle of the trashed room, her hands on her hips as she panted, and Yang entered the room with a bottle of water, a large smile on her lips.

“So? How do you feel?” she asked, pressing the bottle in Weiss’s hands before unclipping the helmet and taking it off.

The smaller woman sighed when she did, putting the glasses off before she took a long gulp, sighing loudly after as she was still trying to catch her breath. She gave back the bottle, a large smile on her lips as she looked up into lilac.

“I feel a lot better, actually” Weiss admitted, pulling the gloves off. “Lighter, somehow.”

“That’s good!”

Weiss started to unzip the jumpsuit before stopping midway, grimacing.

“I’ll probably need a shower.”

“It’s fine” Yang waved her words aside, pulling a chair after they walked out for her to sit. “And now that your head is clearer, I have something to tell you.”

Weiss had just finished getting out of the jumpsuit, leaving it on a hook near the desk, but before she sat in the chair, she huffed, pulling on her shirt as it was soaked with sweat and clinging to her skin.

“Do you have-” she started, but Yang cut her off by standing from her own chair, stepping around the desk and pulling up her gym bag, pulling a clean T-shirt from it before throwing it to her.

Weiss sighed in relief, quickly unbuttoning her shirt and pulling it from her pants as Yang sat back in her chair, a small smile on her lips.

“Wow, undressing in front of me, Weiss” the blonde said playfully, crossing her arms on her chest.

The smaller woman rolled her eyes as she finally peeled the shirt off of her, grimacing as she held it pinched between her fingers and dropped it on another desk.

“Please” Weiss scoffed. “You already saw everything under my clothes. Don’t tell me you’re shy now that I’m not with you, anymore.”

That made Yang laughs as the smaller woman put on the blonde’s shirt, finally dropping in the chair with a sigh.

“Okay, what is it you wanted to tell me?” Weiss turned her attention on the blonde, attentive.

“It’s not a big deal, really” she said as she rubbed the back of her neck, a sheepish laugh escaping her lips. “I just wanted to tell you that I met someone.”

The smaller woman perked up, straightening her back.

“Really?” Weiss smiled, genuinely happy.

“I listened to you advice” Yang sighed, somewhat relieved. “I decided to meet new people. Ruby wanted me to go along at one of her friend’s birthday party. I think you know him, Jaune?”

“Ugh” the smaller woman grunted as she sat back in her chair, making Yang chuckle.

“And, well, there were a couple of his friends as well. Ren, a really quiet guy, pretty sure he’ll get along with Blake. And there was Nora.”

The blonde stopped for a second, her lips pinched as she was thinking, then glanced up.

“She’s like a weird mix of me with a voice amplifier and Ruby with too much coffee” she tried to explained, and Weiss’s face went from attentive to horrified in an instant. “I think her and Ren are together, though Ruby insisted they weren’t.”

“Well, good for them, but that’s not what interests me” the smaller woman arched an eyebrow as she crossed her arms on her chest.

Yang huffed, a smile on her lips as she shifted in her chair, pulling out her phone from her pocket.

“And then I was introduced to Pyrrha” she softly let out, tapping on the screen in search of something.

“Pyrrha” Weiss mused, frowning. “That name is oddly familiar.”

“She’s in the military” Yang informed her, still tapping on the screen of her phone. “Mistral’s. Ah, here. I wanted to show you a picture for you to be jealous.”

Weiss snorted, rolling her eyes as Yang turned her phone for the smaller woman to see.

“Why would I be jeal-” she was interrupted with a gasp when her eyes fell on the picture, showing a woman with red hair, tied up in a high ponytail, wearing a military sports bra and short shorts, lifting a bar with weights on her shoulder. “She has an eight pack.”

The blonde quietly chuckled as she brought the phone to her again, swiping a few times.

“I know” she whispered, her smile large, and she twisted the phone again, showing the same woman in formal military attire, but a large smile was pulling her lips, this time, her green, emerald eyes standing out. “That’s her when she’s dressed.”

Weiss gave her a warning glare before looking at the picture more attentively, searching for something.

“She doesn’t have her nametag” she remarked quietly.

“Huh? Oh yeah, she took it off after we left.”

Yang chuckled again as she pocketed her phone, leaning back in her chair.

“I didn’t believe her the first time she told me she was in the military” she smiled. “I thought she was too kind, you know? She has an easy smile, and a soft voice, and is so, so kind. I think I never saw someone as kind as her. And, you know, we talked all night, at the party, until I asked for her number, and I have to say I was a little surprised when she gave it to me. She had a couple of days off, she’s stationed here in Vale for a couple of months, and so we went on a couple of dates, and… It’s good. We’re sure, now, so yeah. I have a girlfriend.”

“That’s really great, Yang” Weiss smiled, reaching out to take her hand, squeezing a little. “I mean it. But can you please tell me her last name? Her name keeps bugging me, but I can’t quite place it.”

“Nikos” Yang answered with a smile. “Pyrrha Nikos.”

“Nikos?” the smaller woman suddenly jumped to her feet, her eyes wide. “You are dating Pyrrha Nikos?”

“Huh” the blonde frowned, tilting her head to the side slightly. “Yeah?”

“Oh my God” Weiss breathed as she sat in her chair again, her hands on her lap. “I have to meet her.”

“I mean, I’m glad you want to meet her, but why do you absolutely have to?” Yang asked, a little curious, now.

“Winter told me they worked on a joined mission, once. Pyrrha isn’t just ‘in the military’; she’s with the special task force. It’s like… ” She sighed, not finding the right example. “Look, it’s a big deal. Winter told me that this woman was the best soldier she had ever seen. And she never said that about someone before, not even General Ironwood” she added, locking her eyes with Yang. “During this mission, things went south, and your girlfriend ended up saving everyone in the squad. How come she never told you?”

“Well, she _is_ humble” Yang smiled. “She’ll probably just say she was doing her job. Anyway, I already asked her to come with me at the press conference, since it’s our project that you’ll promote, I thought it was important enough to bring someone with me.”

The smaller woman smiled, squeezing her hand again.

“And it is. I’m really happy for you, Yang.”

 

**** 

 

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Blake asked, worry scrunching up her face as she leaned over, brushing a few strands of ivory hair out of Weiss’s face. “I wasn’t too hard on you?”

The smaller woman laughed weakly as she rolled over, snuggling closer to the faunus, her eyes closed already.

“For that last time, Blake, I’m fine” she murmured against her skin. “You were just the right amount of ‘hard’, though” she grinned.

Blake huffed as she wrapped her arm around Weiss’s smaller frame, lazily unstrapping the harness that was around her hips.

“It’s just you’re so small and frail-”

“I’m not made of glass, either.”

The faunus hummed against Weiss’s forehead, leaving a soft kiss there before grunting as she pulled on the last strap, the thing finally letting go, and she dropped it beside the bed with a sigh before shifting to be more comfortable, keeping Weiss close to her.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Blake asked in a murmur in white hair, softly ghosting her fingers across Weiss’s back, along her spine. “Your speech is ready?”

The smaller woman hummed positively, nuzzling between the faunus’s collarbones.

“Yes” Weiss softly answered. “I’m actually looking forward for it. I can’t wait for Father to see I called him a liar, live in the news. Hah!”

It was Blake’s turn to hum, her eyebrows furrowing slightly in worry until the smaller woman sighed deeply in her arms, shifting.

“Just don’t let me think of the repercussions of this too long, okay? Or I might chicken out.”

The faunus snorted, sliding her fingers in Weiss’s hair with a smirk on her lips.

“Is that why tonight happened?” she asked playfully. “You wanted me to fuck you so much you couldn’t think anymore?”

“Exactly.”

Blake laughed, feeling Weiss smile against her skin. They stayed silent then, comfortable, both exhausted but enjoying each other’s presence. After a long while, Blake thought that Weiss was asleep and was about to herself when Weiss’s voice rose, as quiet as before.

“I’m kind of glad it’s happening. I feel like if I stand up to Father for this, call him out, I… I might be free of him. For good, this time.”

Blake had the feeling that Weiss was more talking to herself than to her, and so, she didn’t say anything, only holding her closer.

“I’m also glad you’re here with me” the smaller woman continued as quietly, if not a little more. “Not many people would have stayed.”

“I could go through hell for you” the faunus murmured in her hair, breathing in her scent. “Of course I’ll stay.”

Weiss huffed, her fingers brushing against the many scars she could feel on Blake’s back, her touch light on her skin.

“I won’t ever ask you to go through hell again. You deserve better.”

The faunus gently bumped her nose on the smaller woman’s forehead until Weiss looked up, and she gently leaned to take her lips, kissing her tenderly as she cupped Weiss’s cheek.

“I love you, Weiss.”

“I love you, Blake.”

They paused for a second, then started giggling after they spoke at the same time, and shared another kiss, then another one, and yet, another one, deepening every time, Weiss gently propping herself on her elbow to better kiss her. And when she felt one small hand leave her back to slide over her stomach, toying with her breast the way she liked, Blake gasped in the smaller woman’s mouth, earning a smug smile.

“Weren’t you tired?” the faunus asked, panting a little already.

Weiss’s smug grin only inched larger as she looked at Blake with half-lidded eyes before leaning down, her lips warm against the faunus’s skin.

“I was, but now I’m not” she murmured against her skin, before her mouth closed on Blake’s breast.

 

**** 

 

“Two minutes” a man with a headset called for them, and he left behind the curtains after Weiss gave him a nod.

Blake smiled encouragingly at her, squeezing her hands in hers, gaining her attention.

“Ready?”

The smaller woman huffed, glancing around as her eyes started to fill with uncertainty.

“I hope so. If I don’t die from the stress before” she smiled nervously as her eyes came back to Blake’s, locking with hers.

The faunus huffed, squeezing her hands again before glancing around quickly, making sure they were alone, and leaned down, kissing Weiss tenderly.

“I’ll be in the crowd” she murmured after she pulled away, leaning her forehead with Weiss’s.

The smaller woman nodded, kissing her cheek one last time before pulling away, taking a deep breath as she squared her shoulders. Blake silently left, waving at Yang and Ruby that would be behind the curtains as they prepared the schematics of the arm they were working on, before slipping in the crowd, trying to find a good spot.

There were… too many journalists, Blake thought as she glanced at the line of cameras at the back, all pointing towards the stage where Weiss was entering at this instant. The crowd clapped as she stepped behind the microphone, giving a quick and polite smile for the cameras. As Weiss started her speech after the clapping died down, Blake was still cruising through the crowd, slipping between people like a snake until she found a good spot, near the front.

“…on the contrary, we are not making weapons” Weiss affirmed, holding the neutral stares of the cameras. “But we _are_ working on a project, a project that I am proud to present to you today” she said as she bowed her head slightly, turning her head to the curtains at the side to see Ruby and Yang stepping on the stage with a large board, the schematics large enough for everyone to see.

There was a murmur in the crowd, feeling more like a shiver in the mass, and Blake glanced over her shoulder to see the reporters glancing at each other, not sure what to do. She snorted, shaking her head as she returned her attention to her team, only slightly disturbed when someone bumped their shoulder against her as they were moving closer.

“As you can see, those are schematics of a prosthetic arm, and as I said before, we are still working on it. We are trying to make it-”

Blake’s attention was suddenly taken somewhere else, as she heard the quiet noise of a gun holster unclipped. Quickly, she glanced around, trying to identify who it was before shaking her head, cursing under her breath.

Crowds could make her feel a little uneasy, and hearing things often happened. And so, she decided to not mind too much.

But as she was looking forward again, she saw the person that had bumped into her reach for something under their jacket, and as if the room was completely silent, Blake heard the noise of slick metal sliding against a leather holster.

The man pointed the gun towards Weiss, his finger already on the trigger.

Quick as lightning, Blake pushed the man’s shoulder as he pulled the trigger, the noise of the shot deafening to Blake as everyone started to scream, and Blake had just the time to look up, seeing that the bullet had missed Weiss’s head from a few inches as she was frozen in place. The faunus was about to yell at her to get down when Yang jumped by Weiss’s side, wrapping an arm around her frame as they crouched, and the blonde brought her back behind the curtains as Blake sighed in relief.

Her attention went back to the gunman, cursing under his breath as people were running in every direction, trying to get out as quickly as they could, and Blake went directly to him, sneaking behind. He must have seen or hear her because he turned around, pointing his gun in her direction, and Blake had just the time to jump to the side, rolling on her shoulder, the bullet sinking in the floor.

Kicking one of the thick, wooden benches some of the crowd was sitting earlier, she took cover behind it, hearing a few gunshots as she could feel the bullets sink in the wood, sending splinters around. She huffed, smiling for a second.

“Like old times” she whispered, wincing and jerking her head away when a bullet ricocheted near her head.

“Blake!”

The faunus looked over, seeing Yang’s head slightly poking from behind a wall, along with another head, red hair she recognised as Pyrrha, who she was quickly introduced to earlier.

“Get Weiss out of here!” she yelled at them. “It’s her he wants!”

“I could provide support-” Pyrrha started.

“There may be others” she yelled back, moving behind the bench. “Just get her out of here!”

Pyrrha quickly nodded before disappearing, Yang hesitating for a few seconds longer.

“You better get out of this alive!” she said before disappearing, too.

But, as Blake was scanning the place, she noticed that the only exits were on the other side of the room, and so, they had to cross the wide, now empty space of the room. As soon as Yang’s head appeared from behind the wall, her, Ruby and Pyrrha moving as quickly as they could as they shielded Weiss, the gunman pointed his gun towards them, and Blake saw her opening.

Jumping over the bench, she quickly crossed the distance between her and the man, and as he was changing targets, Blake slid to him and made him fall over, but he didn’t let go of the gun. They both were quick to their feet, but she was faster, grabbing his wrist with one hand and driving her elbow to his face, spinning around. She heard something crack, hearing the man grunt, and fired two times out of reflexes, the bullets sinking in the wall.

Blake heard the group whimpering at the gunshots, but Pyrrha pressed them on, making them exit the room quickly. The shooter grunted again, hitting Blake with a well-placed knee to her last rib, knocking the winds out of her lungs as he pulled on the wrist Blake was still holding, trying to hit her head with the gunstock. He successfully hit her shoulder, enough for her grip to loosen for a second, but before he could pull away, Blake pushed him, ramming him into the nearest wall.

She then proceeded the slam the arm that was holding the gun against the corner, and it took three times for him to finally let go of it, but he only pulled a knife from under his vest with his other hand, slashing in quick motions in front of him as Blake jumped and stepped, dodging it.

She just had to wait. It had been a long time since her last fight, and she knew she was rusty, but she also knew that she had to wait for an opening, because there was always one. Blake couldn’t thank the skies enough for started training with Yang, and for the sparring they would do sometimes, but she wasn’t back to her hundred percent capacities. But, an opening did happen. The man stepped forward to try and stab her as they were walking in circles, taking in the opponent, but he stepped on the back of a busted chair, and it made his foot shift under his weight, his guard wavering.

Quickly, Blake stepped in, trying to take the knife from his hand but he was quick to recover, and so she pushed him against a wall again as she had twisted his arm, the knife towards him, using her weight to push it closer.

They were both panting, covered in sweat as they fought, Blake trying to hold him there, pushing roughly against the hilt, the shining blade coming closer and closer to his chest, until they slipped on something, both falling to the ground, the knife clattering on the floor. As Blake jumped on it, rolling on her shoulder before spinning on her heels, she saw the man had crawled to the gun, and he was stumbling to his feet.

Blake knew her guns. And if she wasn’t mistaken, which didn’t occur often, this one had twelve rounds per magazines. She had counted the gunshots. There were three bullets left in the magazine, now.

And so, Blake quickly got to her feet, holding the knife tightly in her hand as she made her way to the man, who was now holding her at gunpoint. She took a deep breath, hoping she could still do this properly as she concentrated her aura to her torso in some kind of breastplate.

She could survive a bullet in the arm or shoulder. She couldn’t survive a bullet in her heart, and a bullet in the stomach was just a complication waiting to happen. And the head was too small a target for something happening this quickly. He shot once, the bullet bouncing off her chest, her aura flashing. The man glanced up at her, and it was only now that she noticed his eyes, an electric blue, as clear and vibrant as the summer’s sky.

Blake was still getting closer, and he fired another shot, the bullet bouncing again but it made her reeling a little, her aura flashing again. She hoped she had enough to survive the last round.

Closing the distance as quickly as lightning, Blake swung the knife under his jaw, the blade sinking in the soft flesh as he fired again, and her aura broke, the bullet bouncing off but the impact of the point blank shot knocked the winds out of her lungs, pain making her grunt.

As she felt the warm blood of the man spill on her hand, she heard the frantic clicking of the empty gun as the man pulled on the trigger, again and again.

They both fell to the ground, and she was bent over the man to try and catch her breath, but something behind his ear caught her attention, a black spot standing out of his light brown hair.

It was a tattoo. A growling wolf’s head.

Blake straightened her back, looking over the man as he was couching and gurgling, his eyes wide in panic as he desperately let go of the gun, grabbing her arm tightly.

“May you leave in peace” Blake murmured, locking her eyes with his. “May you leave to another realm. You have been witnessed in your duty.”

The man couched again, his eyes widening as Blake tilted her head to the side, pushing her hair aside to show him the same tattoo, hidden in her hair.

“May you leave for a better life, where pain and hate doesn’t exist” she whispered. “I’ll stay with you until the end, brother.”

The man blindly patted around before finding Blake’s hand, squeezing it with a trembling hand, and she squeezed it back, holding it tightly until he stopped couching, until the gurgling stopped, his hand now limp in hers.

Blake stood after placing the man’s hand on his stomach, sliding her fingers on top of his eyes to close them, then she stumbled outside. The only thing she could feel was her heart pounding in her chest, hear the blood roaring in her ears, and the only thing she wanted was to make sure Weiss got to safety. And so, she started running, fueled by adrenaline. They were close to the R&D building, therefor close to Weiss’s place, and she made it in record time, cursing as she repeatedly pressed on the button to call the elevator, not realising she was leaving blood all over it. Finally, the doors slid open with a quiet ‘ding’, and she pressed on the button to Weiss’s apartment level once inside, the doors sliding close.

She could see her reflection on the metal doors, her pupils blown wide as the last of the adrenaline was still in her veins and she was covered in blood, but as the seconds went on, for the first time thinking this elevator took forever to arrive at destination, she could feel her hands start to shake. And she could feel pain. Everywhere.

Blake shook her head when she started to see white dots, her eyelids heavy, closing slowly, but she blinked them open, shaking her head with a grunt again. She leaned a hand against the metal door, taking deep breath, but she knew she was about to pass out. And before she could sit down, the elevator stopped, the soft ‘ding’ ringing, and the doors slid open.

But with all her weight on her hand against the door, when it opened she didn’t have the time – or the strength – to prevent her from falling, face first, on the hallway, right in front of Weiss’s door.

As she was trying to force one of her arms up to at least knock at the door, it swung open, soon followed by a series of loud gasps.

“Blake!”

The faunus sighed in relief, recognising Weiss’s voice, and as she could feel hands on her, voices talking to her, she closed her eyes, and slipped into unconsciousness.

 

**** 

 

She slowly came to, her nose crinkling. It smelled like disinfectant, and the constant voices in the background gave away the place she was before she opened her eyes, but she did it anyway, blinking them to focus on the ceiling as a neon light blinded her slightly. After she glanced around, she sighed quietly, sinking in her pillow.

A hospital.

“Blake? She’s awake!”

This was Ruby’s voice, and when she lolled her head to the side, she saw the engineer sitting beside her, holding on her hand with both of hers, her eyes wet with tears but a smile on her lips. And as she heard a tumble on the other side, she turned her head, seeing Yang and Weiss quickly entering the room and stepping closer, Weiss almost jumping to take her hand.

The two were probably pacing in the hallway, for both of them couldn’t stay still when they were worried.

“Why am I in a hospital?” Blake asked after squeezing Weiss’s hand, her voice rough.

She cleared her throat as Weiss huffed, kissing her hand a few times.

“I saw you crashing at my door covered in blood, Blake. What did you expect me to do?”

“It wasn’t mine” the faunus answered as she closed her eyes, sighing a little. “Is everyone alright?”

She forced herself to open her eyes again, quickly looking over Ruby and Yang, then Weiss, and they all looked alright as they all snorted at the same time.

“Not even a scratch” Yang answered for them. “We’re fine. And, Pyrrha has been circling Weiss’s building, making sure it wasn’t booby-trapped or something. She’s been texting me every few minutes to give me updates.”

A soft chime coming from her pocket made the blonde look down, and she quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket, swiping her thumb on the screen.

“Still clear” she reported as she was tipping a reply.

“I’m pretty sure she’s having fun, despite the situation” Ruby mused quietly. “She told me that she was starting to get bored, at the reserve.”

“You have a huge bruise on your stomach, that the doctor couldn’t identify the cause” Weiss reported quietly as Yang let out a nervous chuckle. “Also fractured ribs, but nothing major, all in all. How did you manage to get home?”

“I ran” Blake simply answered, grimacing when she shifted. “And the bruise was caused by a bullet.”

“You… you got shot?” Weiss murmured, her eyes widening.

“Yeah.”

“But how did you-”

“It’s a long story” the faunus interrupted her, trying to sit in the bed. “I have to get out of here, let’s go.”

“Wha- No, absolutely not” Weiss objected, straightening her back as her features hardened.

“I can’t stay here, Weiss” Blake insisted quietly, squeezing her hand.

“And why is that?”

“Because the shooter was White Fang” the faunus let out. “He knew Menagerie’s saying. This means that the one who sent him probably knows me. The cameras were filming all the way through, Weiss.”

The smaller woman stared at her for a moment, taking in the information before standing up abruptly, her eyes still locked with Blake’s.

“We’re leaving” she announced, catching the attention of the sisters. “We’ll go back at my place. Tell Pyrrha we’re coming.”

“I have to go at my place first” the faunus countered, grunting and grimacing as she sat on the edge of the bed, a hand pressed on her stomach. “I have to take a couple of things. I’m going to need your help, Yang.”

 

**** 

 

The four of them crowded Blake’s living room as soon as they entered, the place so small that they couldn’t fit easily in one room. Weiss had already been at Blake’s place a couple of times, but Ruby and Yang, no, and so they were scanning the place, grimacing at the peeled off paint and wallpaper.

“It’s… charming” Ruby commented.

“Over here” the faunus waved, stumbling slightly in another room as she waved for Yang to follow her.

A few seconds later, they heard the blonde grunt, then saw her walk back with a chest in her arms, her face reddening from effort.

“Jesus, what’s in there?” Yang grumbled as she walked out of the apartment, cursing under her breath in the hallway.

“That’s the thing you wanted to bring back?” Weiss asked.

Blake nodded, glancing around one last time, before reaching over to take a book, forgotten on the kitchen counter.

“And that” the faunus waved it. “All my clothes are already at you place, and the rest doesn’t really matter. That chest has everything I need. Now let’s get out of here.”

“But what’s in that chest?”

“You’ll know soon enough” Blake answered. “Shouldn’t you call your sister to tell her you’re alright?”

Weiss hummed, straightening her back as they walked out of the apartment, and she searched for her phone in her purse, turning it on. As soon as it booted up, the device started to vibrate as all the messages and missed calls notifications appeared, and she stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening at the screen.

“Nineteen missed calls from Winter” she reported. “One missed call from Father and… two from Whitley.”

She hummed, her eyebrows furrowing as she walked closer to the car while Yang was dropping the chest in the trunk, sighing in relief as she closed it.

“Didn’t know he cared” she murmured as she let her phone fall back in her purse.

As she settled behind the wheel, focused on driving home, her phone rang, connected to the Bluetooth of the car, and Weiss quickly glanced at the screen, sighing when Winter’s name appeared. Before she could do anything, Blake, sitting in the passenger’s seat, leaned over and tapped on the screen, taking the call.

“Weiss?” Winter called, her voice tight, as soon as the line was on.

“Winter” Weiss sighed, a small smile on her lips.

They could hear a deep sighing on the line, along with a soft, muffled laugh.

“I knew you were too tough to be killed” Winter’s voice was heard, trembling with relief. “Where are you now? Are you safe?”

“I’m in the car with the team, and we’re going at my place.”

“Okay, just don’t move from there, alright? I’m coming. I’ll take the next flight, I’ll be there at nineteen hundred.”

And she hung up just as they were entering the parking lot, followed by Pyrrha’s car that she parked right beside Weiss’s.

“Hello again” the red head said as soon as they got out of the car, her emerald eyes glancing over Blake. “Are you sure it’s safe for you to be out of the hospital?”

“I’m fine” the faunus answered, bowing her head to her. “Thanks for that.”

Pyrrha bowed her head slightly, too, a kind smile on her lips as her face took a worried frowned, but Yang called for her, asking for help as she opened the trunk. They all made their way to the elevator, waiting, noticing the blood on the buttons, and the handprint on the door as the soft, quiet music filled the air.

This was going to be a really, really weird day.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M REALLY SORRRYYYYYY!!!!!  
> Finally updating after a milion years again. So very sorry for the wait, I got sidetracked with another project.  
> BUT! This time, it's the truth! I'll be working on this story and I'll see it get finished, because this story deserves to be finished!
> 
> Thank you for reading (and waiting... sorry again.)

“How about you all stay for the night?” Weiss sighed as they were all sat in the couch, after the police departed.

They had arrived soon after they brought Blake’s chest inside, two young officers, one a monkey faunus and the other a blue haired human, and started to ask questions about what happened. They were patient and kind, insisting for Blake to return to the hospital, but as soon as she told them the shooter was a White Fang member, they suddenly became far more serious. After half an hour with Blake, who started to get annoyed at the persistent questions, they finally left, letting the team know they will stay in touch.

Now, the sun was setting on the horizon, and the events of the day started to sink in the mind of everyone as they had to remember it. Ruby kept staring outside, and Yang didn’t stop rubbing her thigh, and she kept glancing over Weiss, Ruby and Blake over and over again. The faunus kept her eyes on her chest, put away in a corner of the living room, her silence not so unusual but it was the absence of reaction to everything that was starting to make them worry.

“Good idea” Pyrrha answered for all of them, setting a reassuring hand on Yang’s thigh, and after a second, the rubbing stopped, the blonde taking her hand and squeezed a little. “If there is anything more I can do, just tell me.”

“You already did a lot, Pyrrha” Weiss said back, smiling weakly. “I wish we met under better circumstances.”

The red head bowed her head slightly, a small smile on her lips.

“Me too.”

“I uh… We’ll take the guest room, alright?” Yang said as she stood, waiting for Weiss to nod. “Ruby? You wanna take the smaller room beside ours?”

The younger woman nodded silently, and stood as her sister took her by the arm, gently leading her into the hallway with Pyrrha. But just before disappearing behind the corner, Yang glanced back at Weiss, locking her eyes with her, and the blonde raised her eyebrows at her, asking silently. The smaller woman grimaced, waving her hand, and Yang furrowed her brows, her soft look of concern transforming into a warning, and Weiss had to mouth ‘Go’ for the blonde to clench her jaw, but she abandoned the fight, rounding the corner.

Then, Weiss went in the kitchen, searching absentmindedly in her cabinets, pulling out a thick, short glass and dragging the bottle of scotch off the shelf, leaving the door open as she went back to the living room, falling in the couch before filling her glass. She didn’t even set the bottle on the table as she downed the content of her glass in one swing, and she filled the glass again, this time setting it on the table with a clack that seemed to pull Blake from whatever thoughts she was having.

Her golden eyes flicked to the bottle, distracted, before settling on the chest again.

“I’m glad to see how worried you are for me,” Weiss mumbled, flicking both her eyebrows up, her nose in her glass as she took another sip from her glass.

Somehow, Blake heard her, and the faunus didn’t even glance at her as she answered, her voice distant, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“I am worried about you. If they come for me, I won’t be able to protect both of us. I need a plan, I need-”

“I wasn’t talking about you and the White Fang, Blake.”

The acid in her voice finally made Blake look at her, her eyebrows high on her forehead, and it was only now she saw that Weiss kept driving her thumbnail on the soft skin of her index finger, pressing hard and repeatedly as her other hand held the glass, and Blake knew that was a tic. Something the smaller woman would do when she was overwhelmed and didn’t know how to deal with it, but didn’t want to show it as the smaller woman held a very unexpressive face to look at her.

“I was talking about me, and a bullet that missed my head by just a couple inches.”

With that, she finished her glass, leaning over to fill it again, but she didn’t had the time to pour the amber liquid when a hand wrapping over hers stopped her, making her raise her pale-blue eyes up to Blake who looked back at her, guilt in her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” the faunus murmured, her thumb caressing. “I got distracted. How are you feeling?”

Weiss snorted, pulling her hand from Blake’s touch and finishing pouring herself a glass.

“Thank you for finally acknowledging my trauma.”

“Weiss-” the faunus sighed, keeping her voice soft.

“I’m not fine, okay?” she finally let out. “I’m everything except fine. I’ve been trying to keep it together since then, but I…”

Her voice trembled and she quickly gulped down the content of her glass again, setting it down as it clinked a little, for her hand was shaking.

“I’m not like you,” she softly let out, her voice a little rough from the alcohol. “I had never seen a gun before in my life. Never heard one before. And today it was pointed at my head, and fired at me.”

Her hand went to the bottle again but stopped, hesitating, and after a short second she ran it into her hair as she curled on herself, her hand balling into a fist at her nape and pulling her hair taught.

“I’m just a scientist, Blake. I’m terrified. I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to think. I just keep thinking that I nearly died today and I-”

When her breath caught in her throat with a hitch, Blake moved, sitting beside her to scoop the smaller woman in her arms and installing her in her lap, grimacing slightly when a pang of pain spread in her stomach.

“I don’t want to die,” Weiss breathed in her neck.

“You won’t” Blake softly murmured, softly petting her head. “I’ll make sure of that.”

“How do you know that?” she said, almost desperate. “We don’t even know why it happened. It may happen again, and I know I’m not built for that.”

“I told you,” the faunus softly insisted, petting her hair as she kissed her temple. “I’ll make sure of that. I won’t let anything happen to you, Weiss.”

Weiss felt her eyes prickle, her hands clutching at Blake’s shirt as she sniffed.

Oh, how she wanted to believe that.

But as she was about to say something, the faunus wrapped her arms around her, holding her closely as she kept repeating the last sentence again, right in her ear, breathing it like the promise it was, and Weiss couldn’t help but believe. As she closed her eyes, listening like it was a prayer, she finally started to relax, feeling safe for the first time since the shooting.

The front door flew open, slamming against the wall and almost making Weiss jump out of her skin.

“Weiss! I’m sorry it took so long, airplanes never go as fast as they say it will!”

Winter closed the door behind her as Weiss reluctantly stood, quickly whipping her eyes, and before she even had the chance to move to the kitchen, her older sister was already stomping in the living room, pulling the smaller woman into her arms into a crushing hug.

“I’m so glad you’re alright,” the older woman whispered against her hair before pulling her away, at arm length, quickly looking over her little sister in search of wounds. “Are you injured? How are you?”

Weiss blinked, feeling more than seeing Blake standing beside her, and Winter’s attention shifted, going to the tall faunus.

“You. I don’t think I can thank you enough.” The woman said right before pulling Blake into her arms.

The faunus froze as Winter hugged her tightly, but after a moment she managed to awkwardly pat the older woman’s back gently, making Weiss smile a little.

“Schnee?”

The three women looked to the side to see Pyrrha relaxing in the hallway, before the red-head motioned behind her, and Yang and Ruby carefully poked their heads in the living room.

“Nikos!”

Winter smiled, leaving Blake to meet Pyrrha halfway, exchanging a solid handshake as the sisters made their way to Blake and Weiss, the blonde noticing the bottle of alcohol and glaring at Weiss, who purposefully ignored her.

“I’m glad to see you, but what are you doing here?”

“I was with Yang when it happened,” the soldier vaguely explained, looking over to smile gently at the blonde.

The older woman nodded, not needing more information for the moment, before looking back at the team, sighing.

“You’re alright,” Winter said, so lowly that it was probably to herself. “You’re all fine.”

She dropped in the couch with a deep sigh, sinking in the cushions as she closed her eyes before opening them just a second later, staring at the ceiling.

“I need a drink,” she let out.

Weiss was so glad to give her one.

 

**** 

 

A soft thud roused her from slumber, slowly. It was so discreet that she wondered if it was just in her dream. Then it happened again, a few seconds later. When it came a third time, she frowned, humming quietly as she took a sharp breath, rolling over to snuggle closer to the soft warmth Blake always seemed to emit, but she felt nothing. Frowning a little more deeply, she patted blindly beside her, feeling the spot desperately empty and cold, and when the sound came again, she opened her eyes.

The faunus was in the room, a little farther from the bed, and Weiss watched her jump, then crouch, then throw her legs back to stand on her hands and feet before coming back to a crouch, standing and jumping. Over and over again. After the sixth jump, she furrowed her brows, sitting in the bed with a sigh as she rubbed at her eyes.

“Blake, are you really doing burpees?”

The faunus jumped, silently clapping her hands above her head before quickly glancing at her, then crouching.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I can’t sleep. I have to get stronger.”

“Wha-”

She interrupted herself, grunting quietly as she rubbed at her eyes again, wondering if she was still dreaming. But when she opened her eyes after a moment, she saw Blake, crawling on the floor on all four, bringing her right elbow and knee to touch before stepping, then did it with her left side.

“Why are you lizard-walking across the room?” she tiredly asked.

“It’s core training.”

“Blake, you have a bruise the size of a frying pan on your stomach. I don’t need to be a doctor to know this isn’t good for you.”

She quickly glanced at the digital clock on her nightstand, sighing deeply.

“Can’t it at least wait until the sun is up? It’s three thirty in the morning.”

The faunus swiftly stood, turning her back to her as she jumped a little on the ball of her feet, swinging her fists in quick punches in front of her.

“I told you, I can’t sleep. What do you want me to do?”

“Hold me, for starters.”

Blake stopped, motionless for half a second before slightly turning around, looking over her shoulder. In the faint light the curtains filtered, Weiss could see the sculpted back of the faunus, the sleek skin of her scars painted in silver.

“Maybe pet my hair,” she continued with a shrug.

At that Blake huffed quietly, walking back to the bed quickly, and as she braced her knee on the mattress, she froze for a second.

“I’m covered in sweat,” she informed. “I can go take a quick shower, if you wa-”

“It’s fine,” Weiss interrupted her, her needy hands already pulling the faunus down to her. “I don’t care.”

This time Blake smiled softly, letting the smaller woman pull on her arms until Weiss was pressed all against her, nuzzling between the faunus’s collarbones before leaving a kiss there. She felt one large hand slide to her back, her palm rough against her skin, settling to the small of her back and pulling her closer almost protectively as Blake snaked an arm under her head. She felt the faunus softly kiss her forehead before nuzzling her hair, and she felt the same feeling from earlier.

Safe.

Still, there was this residual feeling gnawing at her, and as she snuggled closer to Blake, it almost became unbearable, twisting her gut painfully.

“Blake,” the smaller woman called softly, her lips brushing her skin as she spoke. “I’m sorry about my behavior, earlier.”

She heard the faunus humming questioningly, shifting slightly, but she continued on.

“I know I can be selfish and mean sometimes, and I was, earlier. I know you have a lot on your plate, too, and I shouldn’t monopolize your attention like I did.”

“It’s fine, Weiss,” Blake softly said, kissing the top of her head.

“It’s not!” she quietly insisted. “Don’t let me be mean and selfish with you. Even more in situations like this. It’s important.”

There was a silence, but it wasn’t heavy or tense. Blake was simply thinking about what to say as she gently slipped her fingers in white locks, toying with them for a second.

“Okay,” she simply let out after a moment. “But in exchange, you have to remind me that I’m not alone, anymore. I’m used of watching my own back in crisis like these. And, you know I’m not really good at comforting,” she said, her voice almost apologising.

“I’ll give you a useful tip, then,” Weiss gently kissed the hollow of Blake’s throat, right between her collarbones again. “Holding me usually does the trick.”

She felt the faunus laugh against her lips, and she smiled, nuzzling her neck gently, feeling the calm, steady beating of her heart against her lips as she kissed the spot under her jaw.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Blake murmured.

The large hand on her back moved, her fingers ghosting over her spine as her hand went up and down her back, stopping sometimes to massage briefly, her thumb drawing patterns on her skin, and she was about to fall back into slumber, lulled by Blake’s touch, when she heard her soft words, spoken barely above a breath.

“Holding you calms me down, too.”

 

**** 

 

Winter had basically made a round-trip to Vale to make sure her sister was alright, because the older woman, still clad in her military uniform, had to leave the next day, early in the morning, and although she was very reluctant to, Pyrrha had to leave, too. The red-head had only successfully taken a day off, but staying for the next day after the shooting was apparently out of the question for her superiors, and she had to head back.

Yang had always been brave. She took Pyrrha’s leave with a reassuring smile, understanding perfectly. But Weiss could see, in her lavender eyes, that she wasn’t fine with this, that she still needed support, but the blonde quickly hid it behind the fact that her little sister needed her.

They decided to stay at Weiss’s place for the day. A well-deserved day off, not wanting to think about the world outside of those walls, watching movies to try and take their minds off, and just for a moment, just for an hour maybe, it worked. When Yang decided to make pancakes, making it fly a little too high in the air as she wanted to flip it and only managing to catch the half of it, resulting on it to break in half and of course, the side uncooked had to smash on the ground, Weiss and Yang bickered while Ruby laughed and Blake smiled, already prepared to clean. For this short moment, Weiss had forgotten entirely that someone attempted to end her life the day before.

Until her phone rang.

When she glanced at the screen, seeing the name that was flashing as the device moved on the counter as it vibrated, she blinked, and she could see Ruby and Yang glance at her curiously after they noticed who it was.

Whitley.

She glanced at Blake, the faunus shrugging a little.

“You won’t know what he wants until you pick up,” she only said.

And so she did. Swiping her thumb on the screen to take the call, she brought her phone to her ear almost carefully, under the vigilant pair of eyes of the rest of the team.

“Hello?”

“ _…Huh. So Winter did say the truth._ ”

She felt her eye twitch, and the slight twitch of Blake’s ears told her that she could hear the conversation. When she saw the sisters lean closer to the faunus, keeping their eyes on her, she figured they had noticed, too.

“Thank you for your kind concern, _brother_ ,” she let out sarcastically. “If you only called to make me upset, then you can hang up now because you have reached your goal rather quickly.”

She heard him huff on the line, and she gritted her teeth.

“ _Actually, I am calling to warn you_ ,” he said, and she perked up in synch with Blake, the faunus quickly whispering the conversation to the sisters.

“Warn me?” Weiss snorted. “Is it about a furious shooter that is trying to kill me? Because you’re a day late.”

She heard him take a sharp breath, trying to remain calm on the other side of the line.

“ _I’m calling because I want to warn you about Father_ ,” he finally said, and at that she furrowed her brows, worry settling in her chest.

“Father?” she asked, this time genuinely curious. “Why?”

“ _He is… Weird. He’s impatient and impulsive._ ”

“Have you ever met Father?”

Her sarcastic tone only made him sigh, short and impatient.

“ _You’re not listening. He’s impatient and impulsive_ with me _. He… He hit me, this morning._ ”

She closed her eyes, guilt pinching at her heart.

“Whitley,” she called, her voice so soft and quiet that she wondered if her brother would hear her. “I’m sorry.”

There was a silence on the line, and she heard him sniff very quietly.

“I know we have our differences and we don’t get along very well, but if you ever need to get out of there, just tell me. Okay?”

The silence stretched, and she was starting to wonder if he was still on the line, but she still continued.

“Listen to me, it’s important, Whitley,” she insisted, hoping her brother would believe her words. “I don’t want you to go through what I did. If you don’t feel safe anymore, tell me. I’ll come to get you myself. Okay?”

Weiss heard him exhale, a long and slightly trembling breath, and she closed her eyes, feeling her heart sink in her chest.

“ _Anyway_ , he didn’t even try to hide he was changing the subject of the conversation. _Be wary. I know what happened, that father asked you to make weapons? I was with him when he watched your speech. He was furious and almost ripped the door from its hinges when you said you weren’t making weapons as he walked out._ ”

He sighed again, this time it was tired, but before Weiss could say something he continued.

“ _Even Mother is getting worried, and you know as well as me how much she doesn’t care_.”

She hummed, opening her eyes as her frown deepened.

“Thank you for the warning, and don’t worry, I’ll watch my back,” she said, and she heard her brother hum in the line. “But, Whitley, remember about what I said, alright? I’m-”

But the tone ringing in her ear indicated that her brother had hung up, and she dropped her phone on the counter with a sigh.

“-Worried about you,” she finished quietly.

Rubbing a hand all over her face before sliding it in her hair, she sighed again, her eyes staring at the device on the counter before looking up, met with three worried pair of eyes.

“Are you okay?” Ruby asked, her face scrunching up.

“Well, now I know that I’ll have my father _and_ the White Fang on my heels.” She let out, leaning her chin in her palm as she planted her elbow on the counter. “I’m not sure I’m glad to know it, though.”

“I meant about your brother?”

She lowered her gaze and gritted her teeth, feeling her left hand ball into a fist on her lap, under the counter.

“No, I’m not,” she softly breathed. “But I don’t want to talk about it.”

She jumped down from the stool, walking around the kitchen island to the cabinets and opening two: one for her glass, and the other for the bottle of bourbon, this time.

“I um, I have a question,” Yang said behind her back.

“What is it?” Weiss asked, pouring a large amount of alcohol in her glass.

Then after a second she glanced over her shoulder, lifting the bottle for the blonde to see, and after a short second she nodded, and Weiss pulled out another glass from her cabinet.

“You have a mother?” Yang asked, accepting the glass with a short nod.

Weiss made a face at her, before turning back to fetch her own glass, and she brought the bottle along after half a second of hesitation.

“What kind of question is this?” she asked, sitting back in her stool with a sigh. “Everyone has a mother.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” the blonde remarked, arching an eyebrow. “I mean, I didn’t know she was alive? And around? You literally never talked about her.”

She glanced at Blake, raising her eyebrows questioningly, but the faunus shook her head.

“She didn’t tell me either.”

Weiss felt her lip twitch, and she downed her glass, glad she had brought the bottle along.

“That’s because there’s nothing to say about her,” she finally dropped, a little irritated. “She’s a very disinterested alcoholic. She cares more about her wine than her own children.”

She almost spitted the last sentence as she filled her glass again, bringing the bottle down with a little more force than necessary.

“She may not have jumped off a building or hung herself, but she’s committing suicide every day for almost fifteen years, now. I don’t have anything more to say about her.”

There was a silence, heavy as Yang toyed with her glass, making the amber liquid swirl while Weiss finished hers in two gulps, grunting a little as it burned her throat.

“How old is your brother?” Blake asked, quietly.

Weiss’s pale-blue eyes glanced at her with a sigh, and she arched an eyebrow.

“Give it a quick guess.”

“Fifteen?”

“Bingo.” Weiss replied without any warmth. “She did her duty as a wife, and found out that apparently, it’s frowned upon to kill themselves, so she does it discreetly.”

And, as she filled her glass again:

“Can we talk about something else?”

“What do we have to expect from your father?”

Ruby talked, this time, her serious tone clashing from her usual cheery one, but Weiss was only glad for the distraction.

“Almost everything,” she replied, raising her glass in a mock cheer. “My father is a psychopath.”

 

**** 

 

“Your eyes are the same color as the best scotch, did I ever tell you that?”

“You’re drunk, Weiss.”

The smaller woman sighed, leaning her shoulder against the wall as she closed her eyes while Blake stepped further down the hallway before noticing that Weiss wasn’t following her, and she backtracked.

“I’m not drunk,” Weiss furrowed her brows. “I’m just a little tipsy.”

“You’re drunk. You practically drank the entire bottle by yourself.”

Her face still scrunched, she opened one eye, her pale eye looking up at her.

“Are you mad at me?”

Blake sighed deeply, staring down at the smaller woman who swayed gently, even leaned against the wall.

“I’m still not sure if I’m mad,” she answered after a moment.

“Fret not, my love; I’m never sick.”

With those words, Weiss pushed herself from the wall, stumbling a little, then made her way down the hall, making Blake roll her eyes as she followed her. The smaller woman valiantly made all the way to the bedroom and entered it before stopping right beside the bed, swaying gently on her feet, and the faunus looked at her with a small frown as she closed the door behind her.

“I might need a little help to change,” Weiss announced, looking over her shoulder. “But I don’t think you’ll mind about this.”

She snorted, stepping closer, and the smaller woman leaned back against her, humming when Blake set her hands on her hips.

“Weiss, I don’t mind helping you undress, but you’ll have to turn around and stand by yourself.”

Her voice was half annoyed and half amused, and she huffed when the smaller woman complied with a small, short pout, turning on her heels as she looked up at her, offering the tall faunus a gorgeous smile, and Blake couldn’t help but smile back, shaking her head slightly.

“You’re impossible,” she mumbled under her breath, but still, the soft smile stayed on her lips as she started unbuttoning Weiss’s shirt.

She felt small hands take hold on her arms, keeping Weiss steady as Blake worked, but she could feel Weiss’s stare on her face, and when she glanced up the smaller woman was indeed staring, her lips pursed as she was thinking.

“What?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Not scotch,” Weiss whispered thoughtfully. “Honey whiskey.”

Blake huffed, rolling her eyes as she pulled on Weiss’s belt buckle, unfastening it quickly after doing it so many times, but Weiss only kept her attention on her eyes as she pulled on the belt to take it off.

“I could drink your eyes,” Weiss murmured, still thoughtful.

“I’d like to keep my eyes, thank you.” Blake answered, still focused on what she was doing.

“Can I kiss you?”

The faunus stopped, looking up into pale-blue eyes, blinking.

“You know you don’t have to ask, Weiss,” she answered, a little confused. “You know you can.”

“I know,” the smaller woman said with a smile. “But I wanted to ask you. I don’t think I ever did, since it just happened.”

As she considered the woman in front of her, she racked her brain, trying to remember if she actually did ask her, but when she came out empty, she sighed quietly, bringing her hand up to gently touch the pale cheek of Weiss.

“I don’t remember you asking, too,” she murmured. “Of course you can kiss me.”

And the smaller woman smiled. Not one of her small smiles she usually did, but her one thousand lien smile, the one that Blake found was probably among the Seven Wonders of the World, and she couldn’t help but smile back and chuckled when Weiss stood on her tiptoes, pulling her gently by the collar to close the distance and take her lips.

Her lips were soft as they always were, but her breath reeked of alcohol and it made Blake grimace a little, and when she felt Weiss’s right hand settle on the back of her neck, keeping Blake there, and her left hand sliding from her shoulder to her front over her clothes, she hummed against the smaller woman’s lips, pulling away.

“Weiss, it’s already awfully late, and I couldn’t be less in the mood,” she said quietly, catching the wandering hand as it was about to pull her shirt from her pants to slip under it. “I still wonder why I kept you company as you gobbled down that bottle. I don’t want to have sex with you while you’re drunk.”

“I’m not drunk,” the smaller woman reminded in a breath, her eyes half-lidded as she gently broke free from the faunus’s hand. “I’m just tipsy. And I really, really want your eyes to fuck me.”

Blake blinked, narrowing her eyes for a second as she let the small hand slip under her shirt, pawing at her curves and lines.

“What does that mean.”

“It means exactly what it means,” Weiss murmured, pressing her lips against her neck. “I want your head between my legs and I want you to look at me all the way through, I want you to make me see stars as you work that wonderful tongue against my-”

“I get the idea,” Blake interrupted her.

“I want you to make me forget everything except you,” Weiss still continued, her hot lips traveling down to the hollow of her throat, nosing at the collar. “I want you to make me forget my own name; I want you to make me only remember yours.”

When Weiss looked up again, her hands popping off the first button of her shirt, Blake let out a trembling breath she didn’t know she was holding, seeing the hunger in pale-blue eyes, and she cursed internally.

That woman knew what to say to turn her on in mere seconds.

After swallowing thickly, the silence stretching, Weiss smiled, her eyes filled with mischief as she knew she had won, and she leaned over to kiss Blake again, the faunus sliding her hands under the open shirt of Weiss to circle her hips and hold her close. They undressed each other clumsily, impatient and needy as if they were teenagers again, and Weiss hummed as Blake lifted her in her arms, pleased, to carry her to the bed, but as Blake braced her knee on the mattress, about to lay Weiss down, she wrapped both her arms and legs around her.

“No, not the bed,” she panted in the faunus’s ear. “The balcony.”

When Blake stopped, hesitating, Weiss sighed, impatient.

“Nobody can see us, I chose this place for that.”

“But why the balcony?”

“Because I want to see the sunrise as you make me come.”

She raised her eyebrows high on her forehead and she could feel Weiss’s grin against her neck, feeling her pleased stare on her as she straightened her back without another word and made her way to the balcony, Weiss still wrapped around her closely, and when she pushed off the curtains to open the door, Blake could already see the dark sky paling.

And Blake did everything Weiss had asked her to. She obliged to whatever demand, silent or not, the smaller woman asked, and it wasn’t until Weiss was covered in a sheen layer of sweat, the rising sun covering her in gold and giving a new shade to her eyes as she panted, moaning loudly as her thighs trembled on Blake’s shoulders, her ankles locking on her back to keep her there, that she decided it was time.

“Come one, baby,” Blake growled against her core, adjusting her hold on the frail hips. “Come for me.”

And Weiss did, right with the next stroke, her back arching as both her hands fisted in the faunus’s hair, screaming her name without holding back as it echoed in the distance, past the cliff, on the horizon.

How could she ever say ‘no’ to such beauty?


	11. Chapter 11

“Why didn’t you stop me,” Weiss pitifully mumbled in her arms as she had buried her face in it, sitting on the stool of the island counter, resting her arms on the counter. “You knew it was a bad idea.”

“It’s not like I encouraged you, either,” Blake retorted, unfazed by the smaller woman’s miserable morning as she looked at the news on her phone. “I tried to tell you that you were drinking too much, but you didn’t listen.”

The smaller woman grunted, hiding her head under her arm, trying to calm the headache that was going to split her head in two as she heard a soft padding coming closer, and she recognized the warmth and the size of the hand that settled on her back, rubbing gently.

“Rough morning, huh?” Yang said, and there was a smile in her voice. “Poor thing. Do you wanna eat something?”

When an incoherent series of grumbles answered her, the blonde laughed and Blake smiled, keeping her gaze down.

“Is Ruby still sleeping?” Weiss asked without moving, her voice muffled through her arms.

“Yeah. She stayed up late last night, on her phone.”

“Good. I presume she won’t mind if I go sleep with her,” the smaller woman slowly slipped off the stool, keeping her eyes closed as she frowned.

Before Yang could say anything, Weiss dragged her feet across the kitchen and to the hallway, wearing nothing but her underwear and on of Blake’s shirt, which was far too big for her. As Blake watched her go, a small smile on her lips, she couldn’t stop thinking how even like this, she was still the most gorgeous woman in the world, and she heard the blonde chuckle beside her, catching her attention.

“You can stop drooling now, she’s gone,” Yang playfully said, winking.

She huffed, not even trying to get away as she returned her attention to her phone and the blonde laughed, searching through the cabinets and opening the fridge a few times, analysing what she could make for breakfast. For a moment, they stayed silent, both focused on what they were doing, until Yang opened one of the cabinet.

“Hey, you drink tea, right?”

Blake looked up, blinking her eyes for them to adjust, seeing the blonde pointing at a blue box, and she nodded.

“Want some?” Yang asked, raising her eyebrows. “And, do you mind if I take some too?”

Blake smiled. It was the first time someone actually wanted to try tea.

“Of course!” she stood from her stool, stretching slightly as she left her phone on the counter. “I’ll take care of it. Tea is my domain.”

The blonde smiled, holding her hands up in front of her before jumping on a stool as Blake worked, setting some water to heat as she prepared the cups.

“What were you looking up?” Yang asked behind her, and when she looked over her shoulder, saw her looking at her phone, narrowing her eyes as she tried to read the title of the article.

“The article about the shooting,” she answered. “I was trying to see if we missed something, or if something felt wrong. Also, if the people responsible had been caught, by some miracle. But no,” she sighed, leaning a hand on the counter as she waited for the kettle to whistle.

The blonde hummed quietly and a silence fell on them again, and Blake looked over her shoulder. Yang was staring at her phone, chewing on her lip with a slight frown as she slowly rubbed her thigh, and she turned around, leaning the small of her back against the counter to face the blonde.

“How are you holding up?”

Yang almost jumped at the question even though Blake had talked softly, and she almost looked embarrassed as she rubbed at her thigh again.

“I, uh, I’m fine, all in all,” she finally said, scrunching her nose shortly. “I’ll be alright.”

“And Ruby?”

The blonde sighed a little, chewing on her lip again, but she looked up at her, a small smile on her lips.

“She’s a tough kid. She’ll be fine.”

Blake hummed, nodding, before turning around as the kettle started whistling, quickly filling the two cups in front of her.

“How is Weiss?” Yang asked, her voice quiet as if she feared the smaller woman would hear their conversation.

The faunus sighed as she set the kettle back, and took the time to sit after giving Yang her cup before answering.

“She’s very anxious and stressed,” she finally let out, toying with the teabag. “I wasn’t very attentive the day it happened, so I guess I have a little part in this. I believe she’ll get better, over time.”

Then, the blonde stared at her, her lavender eyes filled with concern as she reached a hand, very softly touching Blake’s.

“And how are _you_?” she asked, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. “I mean, you’re the one who fought the guy.”

She lowered her gaze to her cup, thinking about what to say, and she could feel Yang gently take her hand, squeezing her fingers gently. She knew that the blonde liked giving physical affection, and at first, she had had trouble with it, but now, after all the time they spent together, she knew that Yang only wanted to cheer her up, in the way she did best.

“I’m fine,” she finally said. “I’m just trying to stay focused, and trying to figure why the White Fang did this.”

“Isn’t it because… I mean… She’s a Schnee?” the blonde asked, shrugging her shoulders a little. “The White Fang and the Schnee family goes a long way back, apparently.”

She looked baffled just to say it out loud, but Blake quickly got her attention by shaking her head, frowning deeply.

“No, I don’t think so. It would have made sense if we were really building a weapon, and they would try to kill it in the egg, but… That’s the thing. Weiss publicly said we weren’t building a weapon. We’re making a _prosthetic_ , for God’s sake, so why did they-”

The faunus interrupted herself, gritting her teeth as she rubbed at her eyes, sighing shortly.

“I’m sorry,” she let out, dropping her hand to the counter as she looked up at Yang, a very small, apologetic smile on her lips. “I didn’t get that much sleep since, and I keep hitting this wall. It makes me angry a lot more quicker than I like.”

The blonde grimaced lightly, patting the faunus’s hand before reaching for her tea, blowing a little at the steaming cup while Blake only sipped hers.

“It’s fine,” Yang softly assured, keeping her eyes on the faunus. “For I was sleeping with my window open, I heard that both of you were still awake, earlier this morning.”

And with a satisfied grin that she hid in her cup, she saw Blake choke on her tea, her cheeks taking a pink tint as she started a coughing fit, trying to be discreet.

Of course the blonde would tease her. The atmosphere was too tense for her.

 

**** 

 

“Isn’t it amazing to realise how… irrelevant you are to the world? How the world still turns around and move even when you feel like yours stopped?”

“That’s… not the kind of thoughts I like having when I’m starting my day,” Ruby furrowed her brows as she held the door open for the team.

Weiss shrugged with a sigh, searching in her purse for her keys as they entered the garage.

“I’m just saying,” the smaller woman replied quietly. “It’s just the thought that people are still counting on me when I nearly got gunned down two days ago is over me. Give the woman a break,” she mumbled, frowning, still rummaging through her purse. “And where are my fucking ke-”

“I got you keys,” Blake said, stepping closer and giving her the set of keys. “You forgot them on the counter on your way out.”

The smaller woman took it with a deep sigh, eyeing them for a second.

“If I could forget to think, sometimes,” she grumbled as they made their way to the white car.

But as she was about to unlock it, Blake perked up, her face sharpening, and she dropped a heavy hand on her arm.

“Wait.”

Surprised, Ruby, Yang and Weiss looked up at her, but the faunus ignored them, her golden eyes scanning the car for a moment.

“I always get in on this side,” Blake explained. “I kind of have a photographic memory.”

“So?” the blonde asked, her eyes glancing to the car. “Is something wrong?”

The faunus pinched her lips for a second, then crouched beside the front passenger door, touching it with the tip of her finger.

“That scratch wasn’t there the last time I got in,” she reported. “And the mirror is slightly moved.”

Before they could say anything, she laid flat on her front, glancing up and down under the car.

“Blake, you’re scaring me,” Weiss quietly let out, stepping closer and stopping at the feet of the faunus. “What is it?”

As fast as lightning, Blake got back to her feet, brushing her shirt and pants absentmindedly as she took the smaller woman’s keys.

“You have a remote start, right?” she quickly asked.

“Uh… Yes, it came along with the keys, but I never use it,” Weiss answered, blinking. “Why?”

“It may be nothing, okay, maybe I’m scaring all of us for nothing, but I don’t want to take any chances. Everyone, step back.”

As Weiss was about to argue, Yang grabbed her arm along with Ruby’s and dragged them back, near the door, and after making sure they were at a safe distance, Blake pressed the button.

She really hoped nothing happened. That she was just starting to get paranoid.

As soon as the engine started, the car exploded.

They all covered their ears, the noise of the explosion echoing in the nearly empty space of the garage, and the sprinklers let out their water as the fire alarm started after Yang pulled on the red lever.

“My car,” Weiss whispered, not believing what happened.

“We should call the police,” Ruby calmly let out, already pulling out her phone from her pocket.

“Good idea,” Blake and Yang said at the same time, keeping their eyes to the burning mass of metal.

“My car!”

This time, Weiss shouted, her voice echoing in the garage as it was filled with anger, and her fists were tightly squeezed on each side of her, trembling slightly. Before any of them could say something, Weiss stomped closer to the wreckage, sliding both her hands in her hair to try and remain calm.

But the burning frame only made a few series of smaller explosions, and it seemed to make her even angrier.

“My fucking car!” she screamed.

“Weiss, calm down,” she heard Blake’s voice, soft and steady, but she didn’t care.

Ignoring her, she turned on her heels, stomping her way across to the exit beside the garage door, only growling above her shoulder.

“I’m going on foot.”

She could see Blake hesitating, wanting to stay until the police arrived but also not wanting to leave Weiss alone, and when she looked back, pushing the red door open with more force than necessary, Ruby’s voice carried across the garage.

“Go. We’ll handle it here.”

The door slammed against the wall and she started towards the road, gritting her teeth so hard she didn’t even cared if they all shattered, feeling her blood boil in her veins. She could hear more than she could see that Blake was following her at a safe distance, leaving her alone with her anger but still there if she needed it. It was only when she was about to cross the main boulevard without looking that Blake tried to step in.

“Weiss, stop. You’re going to-”

“I don’t care,” she snapped back, stepping in the road anyway. “They can run me over if they want to, I don’t care. But if they do,” she spitted, turning her poisonous glare to the rapidly approaching care. “I’m going to sue them into oblivion!”

The car thankfully slammed the breaks, slowing down considerably as the fury that was Weiss Schnee crossed the road, and Blake waited for the few cars to pass before joining her again, Weiss hearing her sigh behind her.

When they managed to reach the R&D parking lot unscathed, Weiss still marched on, her shoulders squared and tensed, and she practically ripped the front door from its hinges when she opened it, and she could guess that Blake was motioning for the people to move aside, and told the secretary that whatever she wanted to tell her would wait. Weiss pressed on the button to call the elevator, and a second later she pressed it again, a little harder.

Fortunately, the soft ‘ding!’ of the elevator was heard, the doors sliding open and Weiss slipped in, but upon seeing her face, the two people that were already in quickly stepped out, leaving her alone with Blake, who settled behind her. Like the tall shadow she always was, here. Pressing the button to the team’s working floor, Weiss sighed when the doors took too long to close, and she slammed her hand on the button again.

The doors finally slid closed, and she kept sinking her thumbnail in her index finger, the pain making her grimace. Something had to keep her grounded. Something had to keep her composed. She glanced up, seeing that they were just now leaving the ground floor, and she gritted her teeth again. So hard it hurt. And she couldn’t help herself when she pressed the highlighted button again, and again, harder every time, until she slammed her hand on it, pressing numerus buttons of other floors, and her hand balled into a fist as she felt her teeth almost shattering, and was about to punch it against the panel when a hand grabbed her wrist.

“That’s enough,” Blake only let out, quietly and calmly.

The doors opened at that, but they didn’t move. They were still one floor up from the team’s working floor. The doors closed again after no one entered, and it moved again, but they still didn’t move.

Weiss couldn’t. She felt like she would crumble if Blake let go of her hand.

But she didn’t, the thumb caressing the inside of her wrist somehow managing to make her blood boil slightly less, for a moment.

The doors opened again, and for a second, they didn’t move. When she felt a little more in control, Weiss gently pulled away, Blake’s hand letting her do so, and she stepped out of the elevator, the faunus still right on her heels. She knew what she needed. And so, she made her way directly to the testing grounds, walking past the large windows, and went to the sisters’ office, opening the door roughly, her hand already gripping the baseball bat that was right beside the door, in a corner.

Turning around, seeing Blake step aside to let her pass, she then made her way down the hallway, the silence filled by the noises of their footsteps and the buzzing of the neon lights, and they walked past their shared office to continue a little farther, towards unused ones.

When Weiss finally stepped in one, Blake was about to follow her until the door slammed shut in her face, and she saw the faunus blink, her golden eyes looking up at the window to meet her eyes, but when the faunus heard the door locking, her ears slightly twitching, she sighed, and Weiss saw her sat down, leaning her back against the wall.

For the next half hour, the only sounds that filled the hallway were crashing and shouts, muffled only by the closed door.

 

**** 

 

_How is she doing?_

That was the first text message that Ruby sent her, as she waited for Weiss to unlock the door, and with a sigh, Blake tapped a reply.

_She locked herself in an office with a baseball bat. I’m stuck outside._

She put her phone down, leaning her head back against the wall, and the short silence was disturbed by a muffled shout again, then something breaking. Her phone vibrating brought back her attention, and she quickly swiped her thumb on the screen to see Ruby’s message.

_Yang says not to worry. It calmed her down last time, and she said it definitely will this time, too._

She arched an eyebrow before looking up, seeing the door tremble in its frame as something was thrown against it, and she sighed again.

_I hope so. How is it going, on your side?_

_The police came, they were the same guys from last time. They said they would look into the wreckage, find the bomb and try to see if it’s too damaged to find anything useful on it. They’ll be on their way to talk to you guys soon._

_Okay. Text me when they do, and keep me posted._

_Will do._

She sighed yet again, rubbing her face before sliding her hand in her hair, closing her eyes.

She just hoped that Weiss would be done before the police came here. Arresting her for property damage sure won’t be good for her.

Just as she was thinking that it was strangely silent in the room next to her, she heard the door unlock, and she opened her eyes, looking up. Weiss wasn’t at the window, and the door didn’t open. But Weiss had unlocked the door.

Blake stood then, stretching a little, and she took a sharp intake of air before opening the door, prepared to face whatever side of Weiss she would find.

She had to say that she wasn’t prepared for that. The entire furniture of the room was destroyed, and there even was a few holes on the walls, spikes of a broken leg of a table buried in it, and she found the baseball bat on the ground, in the middle of the room, and she had to do a double take of the room to find Weiss.

The smaller woman was curled up under a very damaged counter, the bending top almost touching her head as she was leaning her forehead against her knees, her arms looped around her pulled up legs. Blake silently made her way to her, pushing aside some of the rubbish, and carefully sat beside her, keeping a small distance between them, but as soon as Weiss felt her, the smaller woman shifted closer, and Blake wrapped an arm around her shoulders, keeping her close.

“Are you alright?” the faunus asked quietly, leaning her cheek on top of her head.

“No.”

Her golden eyes scanned the room again, huffing slightly.

“Fair enough.”

“If you hadn’t been there…” Weiss breathed, her voice trembling. “If you weren’t that observant, we would… We would be dead.”

Blake kissed the top of her head, holding her closer, but the smaller woman shook her head, trembling slightly.

“You should go,” she breathed.

“What?” the faunus instantly straightened her back, looking down at her.

“Until this is over, you should go,” she insisted. “You, Ruby and Yang. Get as far as you can. I don’t mind them trying to kill me, but if something happens to one of you… I won’t be able to forgive myself if one of you die because of me.”

“Weiss, I’m not leaving you.”

“But-” Weiss started, finally straightening her head to look up at her.

“It’s non-negotiable. I’m not leaving.”

Her firm tone didn’t leave place to argument, and the smaller woman closed her mouth quietly, her pale-blue eyes staring at her for a moment.

“For Ruby and Yang, I don’t know, you’ll have to ask them,” Blake continued. “But I’m staying.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you, Weiss,” she smiled, bringing her hand up to cup her cheek before gently kissing her forehead. “Besides, I told you; I won’t let anything happen to you.”

 

****

 

The police came, an hour later, the same two young men taking their deposition about what happened, and it was after talking with them further that one of the police officers, the monkey faunus, pulled Blake on the side and told her that the cameras of the garage had been destroyed before the explosion. Sun, as Blake remembered his name, told her they even checked the footage outside Weiss’s building, but it was erased for a whole day.

Whoever wanted Weiss dead, he said, they were _really_ serious.

He gave her his card, in case he could do something else for them, and, with a wink, added she could call him if she wanted to just talk.

Blake stood there, dumbstruck, as the two policemen left the R&D building, and her eyes fell to the card she was holding, feeling more than seeing Weiss stand beside her.

“That guy was totally flirting with you.”

Her voice was calm, but when she looked at her, Weiss was glaring daggers at the police car that pulled away from the parking lot, and it made her huff.

“Are you jealous?” she asked, pocketing the card.

Her lips twitched slightly, but she kept her attention outside as Blake sat on a bench, staying out on the front while Ruby and Yang came to join them.

“No. It’s just not the time nor the place to practice such activities.”

“Then why do you look like you want their car to explode?”

Weiss glared at her then for a short second, a warning, but she returned her attention outside, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I have no respect for people that don’t do their jobs correctly.”

Blake hummed, and opened her mouth to reply but her phone vibrated in her pocket, and she preferred to turn her attention on this.

“They’ll be there in ten minutes,” she reported, seeing Weiss nod with a hum.

At that moment, the secretary discreetly came outside, clearing her throat to catch Weiss’s attention before talking to her and giving her a rather thick file.

“I’ll look into it as soon as I can,” the smaller woman gracefully accepted the file, bowing her head slightly. “Thank you.”

The woman bowed her head too before quickly turning around, disappearing inside the building as Weiss opened the file with a sigh, her eyes traveling on the first dossier inside.

“My car exploded with us nearly inside, and here I am, with a stack of papers that I have to review,” she mumbled as she closed the file with a flat noise, before dropping it beside Blake on the bench.

The faunus caught her hand, squeezing her fingers gently.

“Hey,” she softly called, and it took a few seconds for pale eyes to look up. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

The smaller woman lowered her gaze, sighing quietly, but she said nothing, and the quiet buzzing of a phone vibrating was heard. Blake looked down at hers, but was surprised to see it wasn’t the one receiving a call, and looked up to see Weiss’s surprised look.

“It’s Whitley again,” she softly let out, her pale eyes glancing quickly to her. “I’m really starting to wonder if he’s alright. He never called until now, and now he called me two days in a row.”

She made a face but still swiped at the screen, taking the call before bringing her phone to her ear.

“Whitley?”

“ _Weiss, good_ ,” he said, his cool voice almost sounding relieved. “ _I heard about your car, on the news. I wanted to check in._ ”

Weiss glanced again at Blake, crossing her arm across her chest and gently grasping the arm that was holding the phone.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but are _you_ okay? You never called before now.”

“ _Someone wasn’t trying to kill you before_ ,” he replied, irritated. “ _I can just hang up, if you want._ ”

“No, no, it’s- It’s fine,” she quickly insisted, grimacing slightly. “I’m glad you called. Thank you for the concern.”

“ _Of course I’m concerned,_ ” he huffed, sounding slightly angry. “ _You’re my sister. Father and Mother can say what they want, but you still showed me more care than both of them combined, even if it was more yelling than anything._ ”

“Well, more than once, you deserved to be yelled at, just saying.”

She heard him chuckle on the line, discreetly, and it was enough to make her smile a little.

“ _Anyway, are you alright? Are you alone?_ ”

“No, I’m with my…” Weiss trailed off as she glanced at Blake, the faunus shrugging with a small smile. “My good friend,” she said carefully. “She’s actually the one who saw there was something with the car.”

“ _I see_. _Is she the faunus? I heard about her._ ”

Her eyebrows shot up high on her forehead, and she decided to sit on the bench beside Blake, the faunus staring at her intensely, now.

“Really?” she asked, even more carefully. “What did Father say?”

“ _Besides that she had corrupted you, not much,_ ” he said, and there was a disinterest in his voice that made her huff. “ _Anyway, I’m glad you’re alright. Tell your friend she has my respect for what she did, both for the car and for the shooting. Her being a faunus means very little to me, for the moment._ ”

Weiss quickly glanced to Blake beside her, seeing the faunus bow her head with a small smile, and she smiled, too.

“I’ll be sure to tell her.”

“ _Alright. Now stay safe, and don’t make me call again. It feels weird to worry about you._ ”

“Thank you, Whitley,” she sarcastically let out, and she heard him huff. “What about you?”

She heard him snort on the other side of the line, and she could imagine his very irritating face as he rolled his eyes.

“ _I can’t believe you’re asking_ me _if I’m alright. But yes, I am, mostly. Nothing… happened with Father since. I’m more trying to avoid him than anything._ ”

She hummed, nodding, understanding perfectly. She remembered doing the same, when she still lived at the mansion.

“ _I have to go,_ ” he said after a moment. “ _Take care, Weiss._ ”

“I’ll try to. You take care, too.”

After hearing him hum, there was the tone indicating he had hung up, and Weiss pulled her phone from her ear, pocketing it absentmindedly.

“Are you okay?” Blake asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

“Yes. It’s just… It feels weird. He almost sounded _nice_.”

The faunus laughed at how confused Weiss sounded as she said it.

“Do you have any brothers and sisters?” she asked, turning her head towards Blake.

“Well, I’m an only child. When I look at Ruby and Yang, I’m thinking ‘unfortunately’ only child. Then I hear about you and your brother, and I think ‘fortunately’.”

“Oh, he was such a jerk!” Weiss hissed at the memory. “He was doing literally _everything_ to make me upset, and brought me in trouble. Father had never, not once, raised his voice to him. The golden boy,” she sighed, shaking her head gently.

They both looked up when they head a car approaching, recognizing Ruby’s red mini-cooper, but instead of parking the car, it rolled to the front of the building, and they saw the younger woman lower her window.

“Get in!” she said as a greeting.

“Why? Where are we going?”

Then, the rear window was pulled down, too, and they saw Yang motioning for them to get inside.

“We’ll explain on the way,” she answered.

Both Blake and Weiss blinked. Yang was _never_ sitting on the back for fun. They stepped closer to the car, trying to see who was sitting on the front beside Ruby.

It was someone they had never met before.

“Salutations! My name is Penny, and I’m going to help you!” the stranger excitedly cheered, smiling widely as her soft, clear-green eyes settled on Weiss.

Golden and pale-blue eyes stayed on the stranger for a second before glancing back at Ruby, making the younger woman grunt a little.

“Get in,” she insisted. “I’ll explain on the way.”

 

**** 

 

“You found a phone at a crime scene, a phone that is _absolutely_ related to the crime, and you pick it up without telling the police?” Weiss resumed, blinking a few times. “Are you mad?”

“Okay, look,” Ruby calmly said. “Penny is the best hacker I know. She’s literally _the best_ hacker, ever. I know that the police won’t get everything off that phone, even if it’s damaged, but Penny _can_.”

“Don’t worry, Ruby my friend, I will not let you down!” the ginger-head chirped in, bringing her closed fist in the air. “Every friend of Ruby is my friend!”

“Okay, but even so,” Blake sighed, rubbing her space between her eyebrows. “Why are you so interested in the phone? I know it may be the detonator, but searching for the source of the signal _is_ police work, Ruby.”

“And why do we have to go to my place?” Weiss added. “Can’t Penny do it at her place?”

“They already know where you live,” the hacker said, turning a little in her seat to look at her. “I don’t want to compromise my place in case I get hacked back.”

“So you’ll only give them a location they already know,” the faunus mumbled under her breath, humming. “Clever.”

“And maybe it is police work,” Ruby added, “but it could take days before we have feedback about it. Penny can find out everything on that phone in _minutes_.”

The younger woman said it proudly, with a large smile on her face, and it made the pale, freckled cheeks of Penny take a faint pink tint as she shifted in her seat. Weiss sighed as she sat back in her seat, squeezed between Blake and Yang, and she looked up at the blonde, not really sure about this.

“How could you agree to your sister basically breaking the law?” she asked, hoping Yang would be the voice of reason, somehow.

But the blonde only shrugged, smiling almost apologetically to her.

“I think every bit of info we can gather is the better. Two attempts on your life in like, three days is telling me every way is good enough to know who’s doing this.”

And she sighed again, holding the file of work she had to do closely against her, and she closed her eyes, staying silent for the rest of the ride.

But as they rolled around, mere minutes stretching into half an hour, she opened her eyes, frowning, and she glanced out the window.

But Blake and Yang seemed to have come to the same conclusion.

“Ruby, what are you-” Yang started.

“I don’t want to alarm you guys, but I’ve been circling the block for like, the fifth time now, and this stupid car still has its nose right on my ass. He’s been following me since we left R&D.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it!


	12. Chapter 12

“Someone is following us?” Weiss asked, her voice strangled a little as she clutched at her file.

“Penny, can you tell me something about them?” Ruby asked, her eyes glancing to the rear mirror as she turned on the left, at the light.

“On it!”

The hacker lifted the screen of the laptop she had on her lap, tapping quickly on the keys, and they had the time to turn right at the next light before Penny shrugged.

“There’s no Bluetooth, not even a radio in that car. I can’t hack it.”

“Okay,” the younger woman nodded, keeping her eyes on the road.

“Can you lose them?” Blake asked, careful not to look back to the car.

She could see the younger woman smirk, her hand tightening on the stick shift.

“Oh, I can,” she said with all the confidence in the world. “Buckle up, guys. It may be a bumpy ride.”

And without waiting for a reply, she jerked the steering wheel to the right as she pulled on the stick shift, making the car jump on the road as she passed a few cars, Weiss yelping in surprise and Yang reaching up to grab the handle on the ceiling. When Blake looked back, the car was following them, and as she was about to tell Ruby, she saw her smirk change to a wide grin, a strange glint in her eyes.

“Good,” she heard her say under her breath as she shifted the gears, making the car go faster. “Let’s play.”

Jerking the wheel on the left, this time, making a sharp turn as the tires screeched, Penny whooped excitedly beside Ruby while the three other women in the back were pushed back in the seats, Weiss sinking her nails in Blake and Yang’s thighs when she saw a car brush past theirs.

“Ruby!” she yelled. “What are you doing?!”

“I didn’t know you could drive like that!” Yang chirped in, smiling when the red mini-cooper slalomed between cars before drifting to the right, slipping casually between two trucks.

“I didn’t tell you I was doing car races in my spare time because you would have told me to stop, because it’s dangerous,” Ruby explained, focused on the road. “But don’t worry. Penny is the best co-pilot ever!”

The hacker gave a mock military salute, and Weiss felt a wave of irritation rise, but Yang talked before she could say anything.

“Well, I’m glad you’re such a good driver, but we’ll have to talk about this later!”

“Still on our tail!” Blake reported, her attention at the back. “There’s three of them, now.”

“Three?” Ruby repeated, but she grinned again. “Alright, then.”

Quickly, she pushed on a button before returning her hand to the stick, the radio booting up, and music filled the cabin of the car, quiet at first, but Penny turned the small wheel of the volume, piano, soon followed by guitar almost deafening as the young engineer nodded her thanks.

As they made their way through the traffic, so fast that the cars they were passing were just glimpses, Ruby singing along every lyric of the song along with Penny, the hacker still tapping quickly on the keys of her laptop, Weiss realised that the street lights were turning green as they got near them.

“ _I’m a shooting star leaping through the skies, Like a dragon defying the laws of gravity! I’m a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva, I’m gonna go, go, go, there’s no stopping me!”_

Still, the three dark cars were following close, and at some point Blake motioned for them to get down, the music too loud for them to hear anything, and a second later a trail of bullet holes lined up the side windows.

Ruby lowered the music just a little, looking in the rear mirror to see, her face sharpening.

“My car!” she exclaimed. “Hang on!”

And as the car behind them closed in, Ruby slammed the breaks, pulling on the hand break too, making the red car stop so abruptly that the car behind crashed in them, the others zipping fast past them.

“I knew it was a good idea to reinforce the frame and put bulletproof windows,” Ruby mused before pushing on the stick shift, the car moving again.

They left the damaged dark car there as they crossed the road, quickly taking a side road and then an alley, so narrow that if Ruby turned a little too much, they would crash against the wall, but still, soon after they could see the two other cars following.

“Get off my ass!” Ruby shouted at the rear mirror, jerking the wheel to the right as she pulled on the hand break just when they got out of the back-street.

The car jumped on the road, turning in a large arc to get back on the main boulevard, avoiding by a hair a few cars. But as they could see, persistent, the two dark cars, Ruby gritted her teeth, her eyes searching for something that could help.

“Penny! The bridge!”

“On it!”

And the engineer pulled on the stick, making them go faster.

The hacker was typing quickly, and Blake glanced outside at the coming bridge, on their right. They were close.

“Pull it up! Now, Pen!”

It took a few more tapping on the keys before Penny straightened her back, almost slamming her finger on the final key.

“Done!”

And Ruby made the car turn sharply again, the tires screeching but quickly shifted the gears, taking as much speed as they could as the bridge started to rise in two halves. Blake heard the engineer take a sharp breath in as the car quickly climbed, flooring the pedal and taking a final burst of speed before reaching the end of their half of the bridge.

They all screamed, in different ways. Ruby and Penny were screams of excitements, while Weiss was of pure horror, and Blake and Yang was of surprise, for their attention was on the back.

“ _I'm burning through the sky yeah! Two hundred degrees, That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit, I'm traveling at the speed of light, I wanna make a supersonic man out of you.”_

The car traveled the distance between the two halves of the bridge, the tired knocking heavily against the concrete as the whole car bounced, making it slides on the side but Ruby quickly brought it back to the right track, her and Penny high fiving as they were whooping.

Blake and Yang’s attention were still on the back of the car, and the car closer to theirs successfully crossed the distance, it’s tires bouncing on the ledge making the dark car flip over, landing on its top before tumbling down, Ruby flooring the pedal to not get caught by the wreck, as the second car crashed its nose against the ledge before falling into the water.

When the dark car stopped moving, finally still when it was on its top and nose, Ruby stopped not too far from it, turning the car off, the sudden silence in the cabin filled with everyone’s panting. Blake was the first to move.

“Yang, on me,” the faunus ordered as she pushed the door open, jogging to the damaged car behind them.

“Right behind you!”

Weiss was still pressed in her seat, not knowing if it was alright to move or if she would crumble if she did, while Ruby turned her head to look at Penny, the hacker feeling her stare and turning around, staring at each other as they panted.

“We did it, Pen,” the engineer softly breathed, a large smile on her lips.

“We did,” Penny nodded.

And a second later, Ruby reached up, pressing her hand at the base of the hacker’s neck and pulled her closer, pressing their lips together in a rough kiss.

Weiss raised her eyebrows high on her forehead, her eyes glancing from Ruby to Penny, who had clearly forgot about her as they kept deepening the kiss, Ruby unclicking her seatbelt to move closer as the pants were growing louder, and the smaller woman rolled her eyes, shifting to the side and pushing herself out of the car.

She took a few steps on wobbling legs, looking back at the crashed car in time to see Blake pull someone from the car, and she decided to join them. The car was so busted, Blake and Yang had to use both their strength to open the door enough so the faunus could pull the driver out, and once they did, Blake slammed the person against the car, about to shake them when her sharp features crumbled, transformed into one of complete surprise.

The driver was a woman with long, brown hair, curling at the end, and when she fluttered her eyes open, Weiss noticed her irises were pale blue, almost grey. But it wasn’t what was so striking about her. No, what was striking was her reaction when she opened her eyes, and focused her attention on the first thing in front of her.

Blake.

The woman gasped, grasping at Blake’s arms, and her pale eyes traveled on Blake’s form from head to toe in an incredulous stare.

“Blake?” she asked, returning her eyes up.

Weiss saw the faunus’s ears pull back, saw her grip on the woman’s collar tightening as Blake swallowed.

“Ilia,” the feline faunus breathed.

Weiss and Yang exchanged a surprised glance, but they said nothing.

The woman, now known as Ilia, frowned deeply as she kept her eyes on Blake, and a mix of relief and anger flared in her eyes, her skin shivering as it flashed from red to blue, before settling back on her human skin.

“You’re dead!” the woman finally exclaimed, not minding about the other two women beside the feline faunus and punching Blake as hard as she could in the chest. “You’re dead! I saw you! How could you-”

“I got away,” Blake softly answered, her grip on the other faunus’s collar loosening.

“No. No, I’m dead and I’m seeing you in the other side, for sure. There’s no way you could survived that.”

“Ilia-”

“Okay, while I’m glad you found your friend, we’re kinda on the clock, here,” Yang pressed, shifting on the ball of her feet as she glanced around, opening and closing her fists on each side of her.

The woman snapped her head at her, her eyes scanning the blonde before looking at the other woman on the other side of Blake.

Then, her skin turned red and her hair yellow as her face twisted.

“Ilia, stop it,” Blake pushed the chameleon faunus back against the car rudely, gaining her attention. “I won’t let you harm her. Why do you want to kill her, anyway?”

As her attention returned to Blake, her skin changed color again, passing from red to blue, then to green and black, before returning to the soft pink of human as the woman smirked, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

“There’s a bounty on that pretty head of hers,” Ilia reported. “Thirty grand. Fifteen before, upon receiving the job, and fifteen after completing the job, transferred directly into our account.”

“Who gave it to you?”

Her smirk only grew.

“Who do you think?” she asked, almost breathing it to Blake.

“Who gave it to him? Where is it coming from? From who?”

Blake pulled on the collar of the woman, who didn’t resist at all, even when the feline faunus pushed her back roughly against the car again, and she only grumbled, shaking her head.

“I don’t know, and even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you,” Ilia said as she looked up, her breathing a little shallow. “But the real question here is; since when are you playing bodyguard for humans? And, more importantly, for _this one_ in particular?”

“I don’t have to tell you,” Blake growled, her ears pinned back.

“Huh. So you’re not done whoring yourself, right?”

The feline faunus stared at her, hard, her ears flush against her scalp, but the woman raised her eyebrows at that, glancing at Weiss before laughing.

“Oh my God, Blake. Bad habits die hard, as I can see.”

“You changed,” the feline faunus only said, keeping all her attention on the other faunus.

Ilia’s laughter stopped abruptly as she considered Blake, her featured hard as her skin turned red again.

“I had to,” she hissed. “You made me soft. You made me care. You made me flawed and defenseless. I had to change, once you were gone. So I went to the same man as you did, and I got so, so much stronger.”

“Then don’t tell _me_ about whoring,” Blake snarled. “Why did you do that? I told you to run away! I told you to run while they were all on me!”

The feline faunus was yelling now, shaking the other faunus by the collar, and Weiss and Yang stepped back a few paces, exchanging a glance again.

“I told you to run! Why didn’t you listen to me?”

“Because I wanted to get stronger, and I did. You, on the other hand…”

Her pale eyes scanned the feline faunus again, from head to toe, before settling on golden eyes.

“You’re even weaker than you were.”

The faunus’s lips twitched, but she pushed the other faunus aside, making her stumble a little.

“Go. Get out of my face before I change my mind.”

Ilia’s pale eyes glanced at Weiss, but Blake stepped in front of her, standing tall, staring the other faunus down as her ears were still flush on her scalp.

“Don’t even think about it, Ilia. I can still kill you, and right now, my hands are itching. I’m letting you go for old time’s sake.”

The other faunus stared at her for a moment, before snorting, straightening her back with a sigh.

“Fine. I’ll go. But, I’m just going to tell you this.”

She stepped closer, and Weiss could almost feel Blake tensing, and maybe Ilia saw it too because she stopped, her eyes flicking down.

“Adam is looking for you,” she let out, a small, wicked smile on her lips. “He saw the video. He was pretty pissed, let me tell you.”

The feline faunus clenched her jaw, but besides that, she said and did nothing, and so Ilia stepped back, her smile still on her lips.

“But I’m not going to tell him you’re with the target, for old time’s sake. You should have stayed dead, Blake. You shouldn’t have come back.”

She paused, a flicker of emotion twisting her face for just a second, but her features hardened, leveling her eyes to lock them with golden ones.

“Next time I see you, I’m going to kill you. Keep that in mind.”

And with that, the faunus took off, running away out of the bridge, then disappearing behind the nearby buildings. There was a silence, heavy, as Blake kept her gaze where Ilia had disappeared, and as Weiss opened her mouth to say something the faunus turned around towards the wrecked car, took a swing, and punched the door, making a very evident dent on it. Weiss glanced at Yang then, the blonde only staring silently as Blake took another swing, and when the faunus swung for a third time, she stepped in.

“Blake, enough,” she softly said, setting a hand on her arm when it froze.

The faunus only had the time to look at her before Yang stepped closer with a sigh, rubbing the back of her neck as she stared in the direction Ilia ran off, confused.

“Am I the only one who doesn’t understand anything of what happened?” she asked, returning her attention on Blake. “How do you know her? She’s with the White Fangs, right? What’s the deal with you, supposedly dead?”

Blake closed her eyes, gritting her teeth, but she straightened her back with a deep sigh, before opening her eyes and settling them on Yang for a second, before lowering her gaze to the ground.

“You’re right.” She murmured. “I owe you an explanation.”

With the tips of her fingers, the faunus reached up to Weiss, brushing them against her arm, but kept her eyes down.

“I owe you the truth. The whole truth.”

 

****

 

“Okay, so you were a White Fang member like, what? Ten years ago?” Yang asked as she sat back in her chair, running a hand through her hair.

They were in the kitchen, gathered around Weiss’s island while Penny was working with the phone, in the leaving room, with her headphones on. Blake was the only one who was standing and she kept pacing back and forth in front of the island, her ears low on her head and her arms crossed over her chest.

“Around ten years, yes.”

“Okay, so what?” Ruby shrugged. “You left. You’re done with them. I don’t see the big deal, in that.”

“The big deal is that you can’t just ‘leave’ the White Fang unscathed,” Blake answered, her voice tight. “I had to make sure they thought I was dead. And, I wasn’t ‘just’ a member. I was… I was a high profile member.”

Weiss was strangely silent as Blake kept pacing, her pale eyes fixated on the faunus, and Ruby shrugged again.

“So?”

“So?” Blake repeated. “Ruby, I was the leader’s right hand. I was his lieutenant, Adam’s lieutenant. It’s mostly because _I_ helped him that he’s where he is today.”

She stopped with a sigh, rubbing at her eyes, wondering when was the last time she had a good night’s sleep.

“He was my mentor, and Ilia was my protégé,” she continued. “After I had made a name for myself, he gave me the right to choose one of the new recruits, so I could form them. He wanted… he wanted another like me.”

“Like you?” Yang asked, her voice suddenly quiet as she leaned her elbows on the counter, listening carefully.

Blake bit her lip, her hands tightening on her arms, and she lowered her gaze on the floor, hesitating.

“Have you ever heard about ‘the White Fang’s shadow’?” she asked carefully.

“I have,” Weiss instantly answered, and Ruby and Yang glanced at her for a second, returning their attention on the faunus.

And Blake shifted her weight from her other leg, and they saw her opening and closing her mouth a few times before she cleared her throat, taking in a sharp breath.

“It’s-It was me. I was the Fang’s shadow.”

There was a silence, heavy, and Blake kept her eyes on everything except Weiss, and the sisters looked at the smaller woman, who was calmly staring at the faunus.

But they all knew this ‘calm’ side of Weiss.

“It was you.”

Weiss’s cold tone made Blake’s ears lower on her head, guilt washing over her as she waited for the next words to come.

“You killed a lot of my relatives. You stole Dust shipments, and killed miners. It was all you.”

“Adam was with me for the executions and he was the one who did it, but I was still there.”

The smaller woman blinked once, twice, before lowering her gaze to the counter, swallowing, and taking in a measured breath as the sisters were starting to send glances of worry towards Blake.

“You knew who I was when I offered you the job at the R&D, right?” Weiss asked, her voice monotonous.

“Yes,” Blake breathed, feeling her ears now pinned against her scalp.

“Why did you even accept my offer?”

Her pale, ice-cold eyes looked up at Blake, boring into her face, and the faunus almost felt herself shrink under her gaze.

“I was curious about what kind of person you were.”

“Only that?”

“What do you mean?” Blake asked, furrowing her brows.

“What if you never left the White Fang, and all of this is just a very well-orchestrated plan?”

“Weiss-”

“I let you in in my home,” the smaller woman interrupted, leaning her hands on the counter as she stood slowly. “I let you in in my bed. I called you ‘love’. What if it was your plan all along? Get close to the target, know everything, then even pretend to care when the target is being chased to better stab her in the back?”

The faunus stepped closer, her jaw clenched tight and her eyes shining in a silent flare of anger, but she wasn’t able to talk, the words crowding her lips and so she kept her mouth shut. It made Weiss snort.

“I trusted you, Blake. I can’t believe I did. Was it just an act when you told me you loved me, too?”

“I never lied to you, Weiss,” the faunus let out in a low, trembling voice. “Never. And I meant every word I said to you.”

Blake swallowed, feeling a lump forming in her throat, and slowly, carefully, she took Weiss’s hand in her trembling one, almost surprised when the smaller woman let her, and she pressed her small hand on her right side, knowing that Weiss could feel, under her shirt, the slight swell of her scars.

“Do you really think I would lie about that? That I would have made all of this up? Do you really think that?”

She could see the smaller woman bit her lip, hard, her cold mask cracking and faltering a little.

“I don’t know,” she finally murmured. “I don’t know what to believe, anymore. I don’t know what to think. Could you have done that?”

The faunus shook her head, her throat so tight that she couldn’t say anything.

“I don’t think so, too.”

Ruby’s voice brought their attention back, making them remember that they weren’t alone in the room, and the younger woman stood, too.

“You have always been honest with us, and always kind. You care for us, too. I don’t think you have a bad heart, Blake, I just think that you were at a bad place, at the time. And I’m pretty sure you’ve been carrying your cross all this time, too.”

The faunus felt her eyes prickle at that, her throat so tight now that just breathing was hard, and as she wanted to say something, only a strangled noise went past her lips and Ruby gave her a sympathetic smile. But the lump in her throat was only tightening, and each breath she took sounded like a wheeze, and she felt a wave of panic rise but Weiss saw it.

“Sit down,” she ordered, her voice cool but without the edge of earlier. “Deep breaths, Blake.”

The faunus did, and she leaned her forehead against the counter as she rested her elbows on her knees, trying to take deep, measured breaths as she felt Weiss’s hand rub small circles on her back. She also heard that Yang stood, making her way quickly to Weiss, and she could hear but had no intention, nor the mind, to listen to their conversation, her focus entirely on breathing until she could do so without feeling trapped.

“I never told anyone,” Blake let out after a long moment, her voice quiet and a little rough, but it caught the attention of everyone. “And now, I’m not even going to survive this. You heard Ilia; Adam knows I’m alive. He’ll come and find me. I’m done. I’m done,” she said again, this time under her breath, speaking to herself.

“Hey,” Yang’s voice was close from her head but she didn’t move, feeling Weiss’s hand stop on her back. “You’re not done. Alright? You may be unprepared for him, but this time you’re not alone.”

“That’s even worst,” the faunus murmured, closing her eyes. “He’ll get you on the way. He doesn’t care about collateral damage.”

“We’re a team, Blake,” Ruby chirped in. “We’ll do this as a team. Finding who placed a bounty on Weiss’s head, and prepare a plan for you. We’ll find a way.”

“No, just…” she sighed as she straightened her back, looking up at Ruby. “Just take Weiss. You three, grab the first train, or boat or plane and get as far away as you can. I’ll try to settle this here.”

“I’m not leaving.”

Weiss’s firm tone made her close her eyes, letting out a deep sigh.

“My job is here. My whole life is here. I don’t want to leave,” she continued.

“Fine, then I’ll go. If I can get Adam away from you-”

“Then you’ll fight him alone and you’ll die.”

“I’m going to die anyway, Weiss,” she insisted, locking her eyes with Weiss.

The smaller woman opened her mouth to talk, but a loud vibrating noise was heard, and they all looked at Weiss’s phone, who was slowly moving on the counter, and they all could see Winter’s name flashing on the screen.

Weiss sighed. Her sister probably had heard about her car and wanted to check in.

So she grabbed her phone and answered it without moving from her spot, bringing the device to her ear as she crossed her arms, her hand wrapped tightly around her arm.

“Winter.”

“ _Weiss! I heard about your car! Do you want me to take a leave? Are you alright?_ ”

“I’m fine,” Weiss answered almost instantly, her voice tight as her eyes moved to Blake for a few seconds before lowering to the ground.

There was a pause, and they could hear a rumbling in the back. Weiss’s older sister was probably driving a truck, or she was near airplanes or something.

“ _Are you sure your fine?_ ” Winter finally asked.

“Winter, someone is trying to kill me, of course I’m not fine,” Weiss snapped.

She decided not to share the car chase with her sister. For now.

“I’m not injured, if that is what you’re asking,” the smaller woman continued.

“ _Okay,_ ” the older sister said slowly. “ _Well, I just wanted to check in. Keep me in touch, okay? I can’t always call right when I got information, but if you could leave a message to let me know you’re fine, it would be appreciated._ ”

The smaller woman sighed again, deeply, knowing that her sister was just worried for her.

“Okay. Thank you for calling, Winter,” her voice was softer now, the edge from earlier gone for the moment. “Even Whitley started to check in.”

“ _Really?_ ” the older woman sounded utterly surprised. “ _That’s new._ ”

“The whole situation is pretty new too, Winter. If not, maybe I would be managing it a little better.”

The older sister hummed and they could hear the rumbling stop in the background, and something creaking.

“ _I have to go,_ ” Winter announced. “ _But keep in touch, please. For now, take care of yourself. Alright?_ ”

“I’ll try.”

The older woman hummed again and the tone on the line indicated that she had hung up, and Weiss let her phone drop on the counter before rubbing her fingers on her temple, feeling a headache coming full force.

“What were we saying again?” the smaller woman asked tiredly.

But before someone could speak, a soft padding coming from the living room made all of them look around at the noise, seeing Penny entering the kitchen with her laptop open in her hands, focused on it.

“I finished going through the phone,” she announced as she pulled down her headphones.

Ruby was the first to step away to let her set the laptop on the counter, and was soon joined by the sisters and Blake.

“Unfortunately, there wasn’t much on it. I know that this phone was only used once, and it was used as some kind of detonator. I tried following where the one call led up to, but the signal is so scrambled that I couldn’t find precisely the location.”

“But you have the general location?” Ruby asked as she stepped closer, setting her hand on the small of Penny’s back, making the hacker’s cheeks take a pink tint.

“Um, y-yeah,” the red head nodded before clicking at a tab, pointing at something on her screen. “It’s basically somewhere in there.”

When Weiss finally did join them, Penny was showing them a map of the city, and she was pointing at someplace that was highlighted in green, a large square that was a couple of blocks long. It was huge, but still, it was better than searching the entire city.

“Their HQ might be somewhere in this,” Yang quietly mused, her eyes scanning the map.

“That’s awfully close to the R&D,” Weiss frowned.

Blake said nothing but was listening with rapt attention, her eyes taking in the map for a moment.

“Do you think there’s many warehouses in there?”

Everyone turned to her, but she kept her attention on the map, only noticing that Weiss’s stare was still on her when everyone turned back.

“I don’t know,” the hacker shrugged. “It’ll take me a few more hours to get that info, unless-”

“Do you think the police have that information?” she interrupted, her eyes looking up into the soft green ones of Penny’s.

“Well, I guess,” the hacker shrugged again.

The faunus nodded, humming, and she fished her phone in her pocket, then her wallet, taking a small dark card, with just a number and a name on it.

“I guess we’ll take all the help we can get.”

She looked up at Ruby, and the engineer nodded, then to Yang and the blonde nodded to, then finally to Weiss. It took a moment for her to give her answer, her mouth forming a thin line, before she shrugged one shoulder, finally nodding, and Blake quickly dialed the number that was written on the card.

It rang twice before someone picked up.

“Detective Wukong,” the man answered, his voice neutral.

“Detective, it’s Blake Belladonna,” Blake said, looking up at Weiss. “We might have a tip for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeyyy sorry for the delay. I was out of town for a while.


End file.
